Threshold IBO of HPA in the predistorted OFDM communication system

Orthogonal frequency division modulation (OFDM) system is very useful for the multi-path channel and highly bandwidth-efficient system. However, OFDM signal shows the high peak to average power ratio (PAPR) so that nonlinear distortion can happen in the high power amplifier (HPA). This paper studies BER performance variation according to input back off (IBO) values when the predistorter is used for the compensation for the HPA nonlinearity. In the case of the solid state power amplifier (SSPA) of nonlinearity parameter p=0.5 and IBO=0 dB, the system with predistorter is poorer than the one without predistorter. But this situation is inverted, if IBO is increased from 0 dB to 3 dB. So, we can find that there is a threshold value of IBO for the predistorter to effectively compensate for the nonlinear SSPA when the sub-carrier number and p value are changed. This threshold IBO value is proportional to the nonlinearity parameter p value but it is nearly independent of the sub-carrier number because amplitude and distribution are normalized. The OFDM system with predistorter can be improved only when thee IBO value is higher than the threshold value.