Comparative performance assessment between FFT-based and FRFT-based MIMO-OFDM systems in underwater acoustic communications

In this study, the performance of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems based on the fractional Fourier transform (FRFT) and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) in underwater acoustic (UWA) communication channels is evaluated and compared for various conditions including the number of subcarriers, modulation schemes, the number of paths between the transmitter and the receiver, Doppler frequencies, and MIMO modes including diversity and multiplexing. The study demonstrates while the computational complexity of the FRFT is in the order of the FFT, the performance of the FRFT-based UWA system is superior to that of the FFT-based system for all multipath scenarios, and for the flat fading channel, they achieve the same performance.