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~ ---- - - - --.- - -- _ .._-- - - - - - -

NASA/TM-2001-210595 

2M/D7Y1J 7 

529'1YD 

fJ flL 

// 

The Effect of Doppler Frequency Shift, 

Frequency Offset of the Local Oscillators, 

and Phase Noise on the Performance of 

Coherent OFDM Receivers 

FuqinXiong 

Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 

Monty Andro 

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 

March 2001 

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20010049375 2018-05-14T14:45:08+00:00Z
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NASA/TM-2001-210595 

The Effect of Doppler Frequency Shift, 

Frequency Offset of the Local Oscillators, 

and Phase Noise on the Performance of 

Coherent OFDM Receivers 

Fuqin Xiong 

Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio 

Monty Andro 

Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio 

National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration 

Glenn Research Center 

March 2001 
Acknowledgments 

The author wishes to thank Mr. Monty Andro of the Digital Communications Technology Branch, NASA Glenn 

Research Center, for providing the information in Table 2 and other information. The author also wishes to thank 

Mr. Binh Nguyen of the same branch for critiques and discussions regarding the paper. 

NASA Center for Aerospace Information 

7121 Standard Drive 

Hanover, MD 21076 

Price Code: A03 

Available from 

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Price Code: A03 

Available electronically at http: //gltrs.grc.nasa.gov I GLTRS 
The Effect of Doppler Frequency Shift, Frequency Offset of the 

Local Oscillators, and Phase Noise on The Performance 

of Coherent OFDM Receivers 

Fuqin Xiong 

Cleveland State University 

Cleveland, Ohio 44115 

Monty Andro, 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Glenn Research Center 

Cleveland, Ohio 44135 

Abstract 

This paper first shows that the Doppler frequency shift affects the frequencies of 

the RF carrier, subcarriers, envelope, and symbol timing by the same percentage in an 

OFDM signal or any other modulated signals. Then the SNR degradation of an OFDM 

system due to Doppler frequency shift, frequency offset of the local oscillators and phase 

noise is analyzed. Expressions are given and values for 4-, 16-,64-, and 256-QAM OFDM 

systems are calculated and plotted. The calculations show that the Doppler shift of the D3 

project is about 305 kHz, and the degradation due to it is about 0.01 to 0.04 dB, which is 

negligible. The degradation due to frequency offset and phase noise of local oscillators 

will be the main source of degradation. To keep the SNR degradation under 0.1 dB, the 

relative frequency offset due to local oscillators must be below 0.01 for the 16QAMOFDM. This translates to an offset of 1.55MHz (0.01x155 MHz) or a stability of 77.5ppm 

(0.01x155 MHz/20GHz) for the D3 project. To keep the SNR degradation under O.ldB, 

the relative linewidth ~) due to phase noise of the local oscillators must be below 0.0004 

for the 16QAM-OFDM. This translates to a linewidth of 0.062 MHz (0.0004 x 155MHz) 

of the 20 GHz RF carrier. For a degradation of IdB, ~=0.04 , and the linewidth can be 

relaxed to 6.2 MHz. 

I. Introduction 

An orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signal can be written as 

N , - i 

v(t) = L ~ cos( (OJ + cp;) (1) 

;=1 

where Ai, COj, and <Pi are the amplitude, angular frequency, and phase of the ith subcarrier. 

Ns is the number of subcarriers. In order for the subcarriers to be orthogonal to each other, 

j. = (Oi /2n must be integer multiples of l/2T[l, p. 90, 101][2], where T is the symbol 

period of the data, and j. are spaced in frequency by Rs = 1fT (if all <Pi are the same, i.e., 

NASA/TM-200 1-21 0595 1 
coherent, the spacing can be multiples of 1/2T, and the minimum spacing is l/2T). Usually 

Ii are chosen as integer multiples of the symbol rate Rs = lIT. 

If the signal is amplitude shift keyed (ASK), Ai is determined by the data, and <1>i is 

a random phase uniformly distributed in [-n, n]. If the signal is phase shift keyed (PSK), 

Ai is constant, and <1>i is determined by the data. Therefore the above is a general form of 

the OFDM signal in the baseband. It is called the baseband OFDM signal because this 

ignal is usually modulated on a higher frequency carrier before transmission. However, 

this signal can also be transmitted directly, without further frequency conversion (e.g., the 

system depicted in [3]). 

The signal v(t) is modulated on a RF carrier with a frequency Ie for transmission: 

s(t) = 2v(t )cos OJJ 

N , - i 

= 2 L.A; cos(OJ;f + ¢; )coswct 

;=0 

N ,-i 

= L. A;{cos[(wc +OJ)+¢J+cos[(wc +OJ;/-¢J} (2) ;=0 

where We = 2n Ie. The phase of the carrier has been assumed to be zero without loss of 

generality. The amplitude of the carrier is set to 2 to simplify the analysis later. A single 

sideband transmission is enough to convey the information imbedded in Ai and <Pi. Assume 

upper sideband is used, the transmitted signal is 

N ,-i 

s(t)= L. A; cos[(Wc + OJ;} + ¢;] (3) 

;=0 

If the lower sideband is used, the transmitted signal is 

N, -i 

s(t)= L. A;cos[(Wc -W)+¢J (4) 

;=0 

II. Doppler Frequency Shift 

Doppler shift ID is proportional to the frequency I of the electromagnetic wave in 

propagation, and is given by 

vf f. = -'- cosa (5) c 

where Vr is the relative speed between the transmitter and the receiver, I is the carrier 

frequency, c is the speed of light (3 X 108

m/s), and a. E [0, n] is the angle of the velocity 

vector. The maximum/D happens when a. = 0. 

vi maX(jD) = - (6) 

c 

NASAfTM-2001 -210595 2 
If the speed is in unit of kilometers per hour, (5) can be changed to 

vi fD = cosa 

3.6 x 3x l08 (7) 

Assuming a = 0°, the values of fo for 20GHz carrier and 30GHz carrier and 

various speeds are listed in Table 1. Those are the maximum values of fo among the 

values for different angles. From the table we can see that the Doppler shift is about 2 kHz 

to 20 kHz for f = 20 GHz and 3 kHz to 30 kHz for f = 30 GHz, respectively, in the speed 

range of 100 km/h to 1000 km/h. The relative Doppler shift ~= fo If is, therefore, about 

10-

7 to 10-

6 , which is very small. 

v (km/h) fo (Hz) (f = 20 GHz) fD (Hz) (f = 30 GHz) 

100 1.852 x 103 2.778 X 103 

200 3.704 X 103 5.556 X 103 

300 5.556 X 103 8.333 X 103 

400 7.407 X 103 1.111 X 104 

500 9.259 X 103 1.389 X 104 

600 1.111 X 104 1.667 X 104 

700 1.296 X 104 1.944 X 104 

800 1.481 X 104 2.222 X 104 

900 1.667 X 104 2.500 X 104 

1000 1.852 X 104 2.778 X 104 

Table 1: Doppler shifts for various speeds 

III. Doppler Shift Affects the Frequencies of the RF Carrier, Subcarriers, Envelope, 

and Symbol Timing by the Same Percentage 

Consider the OFDM signal as the sum of various frequency components; each 

component's Doppler shift is given by (5). This implies that the Doppler shift affects each 

component with the same percentage in the OFDM signal. This is to say 

where ~ (positive or negative) is the percentage of change. Obviously 

j; fD Vr ':> =-=-cosa f c 

(8) 

which is determined by the relative velocity of the transmitter and the receiver. 

Since 

(1 + ~)(jc ±fi ) = (1 + ~)fc ± (1 + ~)fi 

we can consider 

fc __ D~o~pp~le_r __ ~h=~~l+~)fc 

NASA/fM-200 1-210595 3 
and 

Doppler Shift -7 (1 + ~ ) .fi 

That is, the Doppler shift affects the carrier frequency fe and the subcarrier frequencies Ii 

by the same percentage ~. The Doppler shifts are 

J:.{: v,fc fD,. = '-:JJ C = -cos ex (9) 

c 

and 

J: v,/; fD , = ..;f ; = -cos ex (10) 

c 

Thus the OFDM signal with Doppler shift is 

Ns-l 

s'(t) = LA; cos[(1+~)(wc +m) t+¢J ;=0 

;=0 

(11) 

Consider Ai COS [(1 +~) COit+ <Pi] as the envelope of the carrier COS [(1 +~)(()et] and similarly 

for the second term, this expression shows that the Doppler shift affects the carrier 

frequency and the envelope frequency by the same percentage. This conclusion can be 

extended beyond OFDM signal to any modulated signal. 

The clock timing is derived from the symbol rate Rs = Iff in the modulated signal. 

Since each ·subcarrier frequency is an integer multiple of Rs, when the subcarrier 

frequency changes by a percentage ~ due to Doppler shift, Rs changes by the same 

percentage ~. This conclusion also applies to any modulated signal. 

In conclusion, Doppler shift affects the frequencies of the RF carrier, subcarriers, 

envelope, and symbol timing by the same percentage ~. 

The fact that all subcarrier frequencies change by the same percentage destroys the 

orthogonality between subcarriers. This is because the separations between subcarriers are 

no longer mRs, (m integer). Instead, they become (1 + ~)mR . The OFDM system 

performance degradation due to frequency offset caused by Doppler shift and other 

sources will be discussed in Section V. 

The Doppler shift rate I'D, which is the rate of changes in Doppler shift due to the 

changes in relative velocity, can be derived as follows. Rewrite (5) as 

fo (t) = v,. (t)f cosex(t) 

c 

where the Doppler shift and the velocity (v(t) and a (t» are functions of time 1. Taking the 

derivative we have 

NASA/fM-2001-21 0595 4 
i"D (t) = I ~ (t) = 1. [v;. (t) cos aCt) - v,. (t)a ' (t) sin a(t)] 

c 

= 1. [a ,. (t)cosa(t) - v,. (t)a' (t)sina(t)] (12) 

c 

where a,. is the relative acceleration rate, 

From (5) we know that the maximum 10 happens when a = 0, To determine at 

what angle maximum ro happens, we fix the acceleration rate ar(t) and rewrite (12) as 

rD(t) = I [a, cosa(f)- V,.(t)a'(t)sina(t)] 

c 

The maximum of this can be found by letting its derivative be zero, and is at aCt) = a = O. 

max(rD ) = a,. 1 

c 

(13) 

IV. Doppler Shifts of the OFDM Signal for the D3 Project 

In the proposed D3 project, the OFDM modem developed in this branch will be put on the 

space shuttle and at a ground station, There is only a down link with a carrier frequency of 

19.035 GHz. The maximum relative speed is 4811.00 m/s and the maximum relative 

acceleration is 168.00 m/s2, In Table 2, the maximum Doppler shifts are calculated using 

(6) and the Doppler shift rates are calculated using (13). 

Sym. Description Value Units Source 

Vr maximum relative velocity 4811.00 m/s Dean Schrage's 

(seen by ground terminal) analysis 

a,. maximum relative acceleration 168.00 m/sL Dean Schrage's 

(seen by ground terminal) analysis 

c speed of light 3.00E+08 m/s standard 

Ie source frequency (carrier) 19.035 GHz project spec. 

IDe maximum carrier Doppler shift 305.26 kHz calculated 

rDe maximum carrier Doppler shift rate 10.66 kHz calculated 

Id source frequency (data clock) 155.52 MHz project spec. 

IOd maximum data clock Doppler shift 2.49 kHz calculated 

rOd maximum data clock Doppler shift 0.09 kHz calculated 

rate 

±frequency variation required 16.04 ppm calculated 

Table 2: Worst case Doppler shifts for D3 Project 

From the table we can see that the maximum Doppler shift is about 300 kHz in the 

carrier frequency and 2.5 kHz in the clock frequency. In both cases the relative shift is 

only 

NASA/TM-2001-210595 5 
The symbol rate of the 622 Mbps 16QAM-OFDM modem is about 60 Mbps per channel 

when coding is considered. Thus the channel separation is also 60 MHz, the relative 

Doppler shift (relative to the channel separation) in carrier is 

E = 305.26 x l0

3 

::::: 5 x lO-3 

60 x 106 (14) 

This is the number that determines the performance degradation in the coherent OFDM 

demodulator. 

v. Performance Degradation of Coherent OFDM Modem Due to Doppler 

Frequency Shift, Frequency Offset of Local Oscillators, and Phase Noise 

Performance degradation of coherent OFDM modem due to channel frequency offset, 

including Doppler frequency shift and frequency offset of local oscillators in the receiver, 

is analyzed in [4] and [5]. In both papers, the OFDM signals are assumed to be generated 

by the inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) and demodulated by the discrete Fourier 

transform (DFT). Also, channel phase noise is included in the channel models in both 

papers. But there are some different assumptions in the two papers. We will point out 

them in the following description of the major results of these papers. 

In [4], the channel is modeled by a complex transfer function Hk for the kth 

subcarrier and a frequency offset £ for all subcarriers, where £ is relative to the data 

symbol rate Rs = 1fT (A WGN is also present). And £ includes the frequency offsets due to 

Doppler shift and the local oscillator (LO) frequency error. Recall that we have 

demonstrated that each subcarrier suffers from the same percentage but different values of 

Doppler shift. This model is therefore not accurate. However, when the Doppler shift in 

the carrier (fDe) is not tracked and the offset in the LO (6.fLO) is not compensated for, this 

model is approximately correct. In this case the total offset for each subcarrier after down 

conversion is 

6.f = f Dc + fD; + 4fLO 

where fDe and fDi are given by (9) and (10), respectively. It is clear that fDe » fDi , since f e 

»fi. Thus 

6./; == f Dc + 6.f LO = 6.f 

That is, the offset is approximately independent of subcarriers. The relative offset 

is thus approximately independent of subcarriers. 

Based on this model, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the output of the DFT at 

the OFDM receiver is found as 

SNR>Ec sinnE - 1 

( )

? 

- No m:. 1 + 0.5947 ( E;{v 0 }Sin m:. Y ,lEI < 0.5 (15) 

NASA{fM-2001-210595 6 
• 

At BER = 10-6 the SNR is 10.5, 14.4, 18.8, and 23.5 dB for QPSK, 16- QAM, 64-QAM, 

and 256-QAM respectively. The degradations for these SNRs are shown in Figures 1 and 

2. Figure 1 shows how SNRs degrade as relative offset increases. Figure 2 shows the 

direct degradations versus the relative offset. 

30 

25 

20 

~ 15 

f2 

'" 10 

5 

0 

-5 

0 0.1 

10.5 dB (QPSK) 

14.4 dB (16-QAM) 

18.8 dB (64-QAIvI) 

23.5 dB (256-QAIvI) 

0.::1 0.3 0.4 

Figure 1: SNR versus frequency offset £ 

0.5 

Return to the D3 project. If the offset includes only the Doppler shift, the 

maximum relative offset £::::: 5 X 10-3

. 16-QAM is the modulation used in the 622-Mbps D3 

OFDM system. It is seen from Figure 2 (d) that for £ ::::: 5 X 10-3 the degradation is below 

0.04 dB. Therefore, the SNR degradation, hence the BER pelformance degradation , 

caused by the Doppler shift is negligible in D3 OFDM system. This happens because the 

symbol rate (60 Mbps) is very high. If the symbol rate is lower, say, 10 Mbps, then the 

relative offset is higher: £ ::::: 0.03. Consequently, the SNR degradation of 16-QAM would 

be around 1 dB for SNR,= 14.4 dB. Further lowering the symbol rate will cause the 

degradation even bigger. 

Similar results are reported in [5], where the channel is modeled by a time-varying 

phase 8(t) caused by either a carrier offset between the receiver and transmitter carrier, or 

the phase noise of these carriers. In the first case, 8 (t) is deterministic and equals 2n~t + 

80, where M is the carrier offset. In the latter case, 8(t) is modeled as a Wiener process for 

which E[8 (t)] = 0 and E[8 (t+to) -8 (to)f = 4nPltl, where 8 denotes the one-sided 3 dB 

linewidth of the Lorentzian power density spectrum of the free-running carrier generator. 

NASAffM-2001-210595 7 

.-
30 

i£' 25 

e, 20 \OJ 

~ 15 

1 10 A 

~ 5 

U> 

0 

-5 

0 

0.5 

i£' 

e, 0.4 

.! 0.3 

1 0.2 

A 0.1 

~ 0 U> 

-0.1 

-0 .2 

0 

0.1 02 0.3 0.4 ~ 

R.ehm'l! frequency oIfset 

10.5 dB (QPSK) 

14.4 dB (16-QAlvI) 

18.8 dB (64-QAIvI) 

23.5 dB (256-QAlvI) 

(a) 

"" 

- " , 

0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.0 1 

R.e~ frequency oIfset 

10.5 dB (QPSK) 

14.4 dB (16-QAIvI) 

18.8 dB (64-QAIvI) 

23.5 dB (256-QAlvI) 

(c) 

13r---,---.---.---.---~ 

-1L---L---~--~--~--~ 

o 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 

R.ehm'e frequelliY oIfset 

10.5 dB (QPSK) 

14.4 dB (16-QAlvI) 

18.8 dB (64-QAlvI) 

23.5 dB (256-QAlvI) 

(b) 

0.1 r----,-----r,----,---,----. 

0.09 

i£' 0.08 

e, 

g 0.D7 

.tj 0.06 1 0.05 

A 0.04 

~ 0.03 

~ 0.02 

0.01 

0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 

R.e~ frequency oIfset 

10.5 dB (QPSK) 

14.4 dB (16-QAIvI) 

18.8 dB (64-QAIvI) 

23.5 dB (256-QAIvI) 

(d) 

Figure 2: SNR degradation versus relative frequency offset £ 

Based on this model, the degradation D (dB) of SNR at the input of the decision 

device is found as follows. For a fixed total symbol rate R, with R = NfT = NRs, where N 

is the number of subcarriers, for OFDM, and R = 1fT = Rs for single channel (SC), the 

degradation is 

• Frequency offset case: 

D(dB) == 

10 l(nN M)2 Es 

InlO 3 R No 

~!(nM')2 InlO 3 R 

OFDM 

(16) 

SC 

NASArrM-2001-210595 8 

------- -- -

• 
For OFDM, the degradation is proportional with EJNo, but it is not the case for SC. For 

both OFDM and SC, the degradation is proportional with the square of the frequency 

offset. For OFDM, the degradation is also proportional with the EJNo, and with the square 

of the number of subcarriers. 

• Phase noise case 

OFDM 

D (dB) == (17) 

SC 

For both OFDM and SC, the degradation is proportional with EJNo, and the linewidth . 

For OFDM, the degradation is also proportional with the number of subcarriers. 

From (16) and (17) it is seen that the degradation (in dB) of OFDM due to 

frequency offset or phase noise is N2

Es/No or N times greater than that of SC, respectively. 

Using the subcarrier spacing (Rs), the OFDM part of (16), (17) can be written as 

( )

2 

101M Es D(dB) == {--TC- - In 10 3 Rs No 

OFDM (18) 

and 

D(dB) == ~~(4TC~)~ OFDM (19) 

1010 60 Rs No 

respectively. In the expressions, M/Rs and ~/Rs are relative frequency offset and 

linewidth versus the subcarrier spacing, respectively. 

Some numerical results for (18) and (19) are plotted in Figure 3. For 16-QAM, 

which is the modulation used in the 622-Mbps D3 OFDM system, from the figure it can be 

seen that the degradation due to Doppler shift £.= M/R :::::5 x 10-3 (log £. = -2.3) is about 

0.01 dB (This is similar to the results in Figure 2(d)). However, if the relative phase noise 

linewidth is also 5 x 10-3

, then the degradation is much larger: about 1.0 dB. This means 

the degradation is more sensitive to the phase noise. 

NASAfTM-2001-210595 9 
LogOrequ.en£y offset/rubcmier spacing) 

10.5 dB (QPSK) 

14.4 dB (16-QAM) 

18.8 dB (64-QAM) 

23.5 dB (256-QAIvI) 

(a) 

,/ 

/" ./ 

./ 

./ 

o .0 1 '---"-----..L.---'-----'----L----'------''---''------'---' 

-4 - 3.8- 3,6-3,4 -3.2 - 3 -2 .8 -2,6-2,4-;U -2 

LO;;l..3 db-lilw.vi.dth/rubcmier spacing) 

10.5 dB (QPSK) 

14.4 dB (16-QAM) 

18.8 dB (64-QAlvI) 

23.5 dB (256-QAM) 

(b) 

Figure 3: SNR degradation in dB versus the normalized frequency offset (a) and the 

normalized phase noise linewidth (b)_ The original SNRs are the values at which BER 

=10-6

: 23_5 dB for 256-QAM, 18_8 dB for 64-QAM, 14.4 dB for 16-QAM, and 10.5 dB 

for QPSK. 

VI. Conclusions and Discussions 

The results of Pollet show that for a fixed total symbol rate, the SNR degradation of 

OFDM due to frequency offset is N2 times more sensitive than SC and the SNR 

degradation due to phase noise is N times more sensitive than Sc. The SNR expression of 

Moose (15) does not include the channel number N explicitly. However £, can be 

expressed as £, = M' / Rs = NM' / R, where R = NRs, then (15) will include N2 in it and the 

SNR degradation increases with N2 approximately. 

The maximum Doppler shift of D3 project is 304 kHz, or 5 x 10-

3 relative to 

60Mbps symbol rate per channel or channel separation. 

The SNR degradation for 16QAM-OFDM at SNR=14.4 dB (BER=1O6

) is about 

0.01 dB (Pollet) or 0.04 dB (Moose) for the maximum Doppler shift. Since the SNR 

degradation due to the Doppler shift is negligible, the degradation due to frequency offset 

and phase noise of local oscillators will be the main source of degradation. To keep the 

SNR degradation under 0.1 dB, the relative frequency offset due to local oscillators must 

be below 0.01 for 16QAM-OFDM. This translates to an offset of 0.6 MHz (0.01x60MHz) 

or a stability of 30 ppm (0.01 x 60 MHz/20 GHz) for the D3 project. To keep the SNR 

degradation under 0.1 dB, the relative linewidth (~) due to phase noise of the local 

oscillators must be below 0.0004 for 16QAM-OFDM. This translates to a line width 

of 0.024 MHz (0.0004 x 60 MHz) of the 20 GHz RF carrier. For a degradation of 1 dB, 

~= 0.04, and the linewidth can be relaxed to 2.4 MHz. 

NASAfTM-2001-210595 10 
• 

References 

[1] Xiong, F., Digital Modulation Techniques, Artech House, Boston/London, 2000 

[2] van Nee, R., and R. Prasad, OFDM For Wireless Multimedia Communications, Artech 

House, Boston/London, 2000 . 

[3] Weinstein, S. B. and P. M. Ebert, "Data transmiSSIOn by frequency-division 

multiplexing using the discrete Fourier transform," IEEE Trans. on Commun., vol. 19, no. 

5, Oct. 1971, pp. 628-634. 

[4] Moose, P. H., "A technique for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing frequency 

offset correction," IEEE Trans. on Commun. , vol. 42, no. 10, Oct. 1994, pp. 2908-2914. 

[5] Poilet, T. et aI, "BER Sensitivity of OFDM systems to carrier frequency offset and 

Wiener phase noise," IEEE Trans. on Commun., vol. 43, no. 2/3/4, Feb./Mar./Apr. 1995, 

pp. 191-193. 

NASArrM-2001-210595 11 
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March 2001 Technical Memorandum 

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 

The Effect of Doppler Frequency Shift, Frequency Offset of the Local Oscillators, 

and Phase Noise on the Perfolmance of Coherent OFDM Receivers 

6. AUTHOR(S) VVU-755-08-OB-OO 

NCC3-809 

Fuqin Xiong and Monty Andro 

7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION 

REPORT NUMBER 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field E-12553 

Cleveland, Ohio 44135-3191 

9. SPONSORINGIMONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSORINGIMONITORING 

AGENCY REPORT NUMBER 

ational Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Washington, DC 20546-0001 ASA TM-2001-210595 

11. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 

Fuqin Xiong, Cleveland State University, Department of ECE, 1983 E. 24th Street, Cleveland, Ohio 44115-2403, and 

Monty Andro, NASA Glenn Research Center. Responsible person, Monty Andro, organization code 5650, 216-433-3492. 

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Subject Category: 32 Distribution: Nonstandard 

Available electronically at http://gltrs.grc.nasa.goy/GLTRS 

This publication is available from the NASA Center for AeroSpace lnformation, 301-621-0390. 

13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words) 

This paper first shows that the Doppler frequency shift affects the frequencies of the RF carrier, subcarriers, envelope, and 

symbol timing by the same percentage in an OFDM signal or any other modulated signals. Then the SNR degradation of 

an OFDM system due to Doppler frequency shift, frequency offset of the local oscillators and phase noise is analyzed. 

Expressions are given and values for 4-, 16-, 64-, and 256-QAM OFDM systems are calculated and plotted. The calculations show that the Doppler shift of the D3 project is about 305 kHz, and the degradation due to it is about 0.01 to 0.04 

dB, which is negligible. The degradation due to frequency offset and phase noise of local oscillators will be the main 

source of degradation. To keep the SNR degradation under 0.1 dB, the relative frequency offset due to local oscillators 

must be below 0.01 for the 16 QAM-OFDM. This translates to an offset of 1.55 MHz (0.0Ix 155 MHz) or a stability of 

77.5 ppm (0.01x 155 MHzl20 GHz) for the D3 project. To keep the SNR degradation under 0.1 dB, the relative linewidth 

) due to phase noise of the local oscillators must be below 0.0004 for the 16 QAM-OFDM. This translates to a 

linewidth of 0.062 MHz (0.0004x I55 MHz) of the 20 GHz RF carrier. For a degradation of 1 dB, = 0.04, and the 

linewidth can be relaxed to 6.2 MHz. 

14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES 

l7 

Doppler 16. PRICE CODE 

A03 

17. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 18. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 19. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION 20. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT 

OF REPORT OFTHIS PAGE OF ABSTRACT 

Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified 

NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) 

Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18 

298-102 

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