Frequency-domain equalization for MC-CDMA downlink site diversity and performance evaluation

Similar to direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA), site diversity can be applied to a multicarrier-CDMA (MC-CDNIA) cellular system to improve the bit error rate (BER) performance for a user with weak received signal power, thus resulting in an increased link capacity. In this paper, the downlink site diversity reception using frequency-domain equalization based on minimum mean square error (MMSE) is considered for a MC-CDMA cellular system. A set of active base stations to be involved in the site diversity operation is determined based on the received signal power measurement by a mobile station. Downlink capacity with site diversity is evaluated by computer simulation. The impacts of path loss exponent and shadowing loss standard deviation on the site diversity effect are discussed. Furthermore, the performance improvement by antenna diversity reception is discussed.