Window designs for DFT-based multicarrier systems

We consider window designs for discrete Fourier transform (DFT) based multicarrier transceivers without using extra cyclic prefix. As in previous works of window designs for DFT-based transceivers, a postprocessing matrix that is generally channel dependent, is needed to have a zero-forcing receiver. We show that postprocessing is channel independent if and only if the window itself has the cyclic-prefixed property. We design optimal windows with minimum spectral leakage subject to the cyclic-prefixed condition. Moreover, we analyze how postprocessing affects the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver, which is an aspect that is not considered in most of the earlier works. The resulting SNR can be given in a closed form. Join optimization of spectral leakage and SNR are also considered. Furthermore, examples demonstrate that we can have a significant reduction in spectral leakage at the cost of a small SNR loss. In addition to cyclic-prefixed systems, window designs for zero-padded DFT-based transceivers are considered. For the zero-padded transceivers, windows that minimize spectral leakage can also be designed.