Performance of asynchronous long-code multicarrier CDMA systems in the presence of correlated fading and inter-carrier interference

The effect of inter-carrier interference (ICI) and aperiodic random spreading sequences on the performance of asynchronous multicarrier code division multiple access (CDMA) systems with correlated fading is investigated in this research. Random parameters including asynchronous delays, correlated Rayleigh fading and spreading sequences are averaged to determine the unconditional covariance matrix of the interference-plus-noise vector. An analytic expression for the bit error probability is obtained based on the Gaussian approximation. Then, we extend the result by considering situations where eigenvalues are not necessarily all identical or distinct. Finally, design tradeoffs among the number of sub-carriers, fading correlations, ICI and multipath effect are presented in simulation results.