OFDM: today and in the future of next generation wireless communications

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is not only a simple scheme used as a digital multicarrier modulation method, but it is one of the most popular and effective technologies used in nowadays communication systems. In this work we present a brief summary of the history of OFDM, a description of the key features of this technology is delivered, and with it we argue why OFDM has been the fundamental scheme of many communication systems for the past and current years. At the same time, we verify the continuity of OFDM in future applications, and how it clearly outperforms other similar technologies.