Understanding the effects of phase noise in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)

Phase noise must be carefully considered when designing an OFDM-based communication system since an accurate prediction of the tolerable phase noise can allow the system and RF engineers to relax specifications. This paper analyzes the performance of OFDM systems under phase noise and its dependence on the number of sub-carriers both in the presence and absence of a phase correction mechanism. Besides some practical results are provided so as to give some insight into the phase noise spectral specifications that should be required of the local oscillator.