Performance analysis of an OFDM system with carrier frequency offset and phase noise

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is sensitive to the carrier frequency offset (CFO) and phase noise, which destroys orthogonality and causes intercarrier interference (ICI). Previously, two methods were available for the analysis of the resultant degradation in performance. Firstly, the statistical average of the ICI could be used as a performance measure. Secondly, the bit error rate (BER) could be approximated by assuming the ICI to be Gaussian. However, a more precise analysis of the performance (i.e. BER or SER) degradation is desirable. In this paper, we propose a precise numerical technique for calculating the effect of the CFO and phase noise on the BER or symbol error rate (SER) in an OFDM system. In particular, closed form expressions for SER are derived using a Beaulieu series.