Message-Passing Receiver for OFDM Systems Over Highly Delay-Dispersive Channels

Propagation channels with maximum excess delay exceeding the duration of the cyclic prefix (CP) in OFDM systems cause intercarrier and intersymbol interference which, unless accounted for, degrade the receiver performance. Using tools from Bayesian inference and sparse signal reconstruction, we derive an iterative algorithm that estimates an approximate representation of the channel impulse response and the noise variance, estimates and cancels the intrinsic interference and decodes the data over a block of symbols. Simulation results show that the receiver employing our algorithm outperforms receivers applying traditional interference cancellation and pilot-based schemes, and it approaches the performance of an ideal receiver with perfect channel state information and perfect interference cancellation capabilities. We highlight the relevance of our algorithm in the context of both current and future wireless communications systems. By enabling the OFDM receiver experiencing these harsh conditions to locally cancel the interference, our design circumvents the spectral efficiency loss incurred by extending the CP duration, otherwise a straightforward solution. Furthermore, it sets the premises for the development of receivers for multi-carrier systems like 5G, in which the subcarrier orthogonality may be relaxed or the frame duration shortened, at the expense of cutting down the CP or even removing it altogether.