Multiband-OFDM UWB vs IEEE802.11n: System Level Design Considerations

Both multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MB-OFDM) ultra wideband (UWB) technology and multiple-input multiple output (MIMO)-OFDM technology have been proposed for future wireless communications systems, supporting data-rates in excess of 100 Mbps. These two technologies use two different mechanisms to boost the data-rate. In this paper we analyse the relative advantage, performances and implementation issues of MIMO-OFDM based next generation wireless LAN systems (IEEE 802.11n) and MB-OFDM UWB based next generation wireless PAN systems (OFDM-UWB). In this comparison, we will see that the distinctive differences between OFDM-UWB and IEEE 802.11n technologies lead to significant variations in the performances and different hardware requirements