Analysis of the effects of carrier frequency offset on filterbank-based MC-CDMA

In this paper, we investigate the performance of filterbank-based MC-CDMA systems in presence of a carrier frequency offset. We propose a semi-analytical method to compute the error probability when both generic transmit filters and arbitrary linear receivers are used, considering a multipath fading channel in the downlink. In particular, systems based on cyclic prefix (CP) and zero padding (ZP) are considered to avoid inter-block interference (IBI). The accuracy of the method is evaluated by means of computer simulations, considering several types of filterbank-based MC-CDMA systems, and it is shown to be very accurate. The analytical results obtained with the proposed method allow us to compare in a fast way different system, characterized by different methods to combat IBI (ZP or CP) as well as by different receiver structures.