Performance Evaluation of OQAM-FBMC System with STBC/SM MIMO over Rayleigh Fading Channel

Enhanced waveforms and modulation as well as Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology are essential elements of the evolution of wireless communication networks. Offset Quadrature Amplitude Modulation Filter-Bank Multicarrier (OQAM-FBMC) is one of the most prominent candidates for deployment in future networks, due to its superior spectral confinement and Cyclic Prefix (CP)-less transmission. Due to the imaginary interference in the OQAM-FBMC symbols, its integration in MIMO systems has always been a challenge. This paper investigates the performance of OQAM-FBMC first with Alamouti Space-Time Block Coding (STBC) MIMO, then with Spatial Multiplexing (SM) MIMO. FBMC is implemented using the Frequency Spreading (FS) approach. The Bit Error Rate (BER) and the Power Spectral Density (PSD) of both systems are compared to that of Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing (OFDM), over Rayleigh fading channel. The Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR) is examined. The receiver exploits Zero-Forcing (ZF) or Minimum Mean Square Error (MMSE) Frequency-Domain Equalization (FDE). It is shown that the OQAM-FBMC MIMO system offers highly confined spectrum with a slight decrease in the BER performance compared to its OFDM counterpart.