Performance Comparison of OFDM and DSSS on Aeronautical Channels

Abstract

This paper develops a performance framework for OFDM by contrasting its performance with Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) over aeronautical channels. Each of the OFDM and DSSS modulated simulations are put through the channel and compared on terms of signal to noise ratio (SNR) versus bit error rate. The simulation will show that DSSS will have better power efficiency on multipath channels because the rake receiver adds all multipath components to strengthen the receiver. By contrast OFDM with an equalizer will have better spectrum efficiency results where QAM modulation of multiple tones allows for high data rates in a limited bandwidth. This work develops a framework for contrasting the performance of the rake receiver and the equalizer for operation on multipath channels. By comparing these schemes on various channels the choice of OFDM for iNET can be clearly understood and evaluated.