30 Mbps wireless data transmission using an equalized 5-MBaud M-QAM testbed

The ultimate means of quantifying the performance and gains of equalized wireless communications systems is through the development of a flexible prototype system that can be easily reconfigured for the study of different transmission scenarios. Moreover, such a system can be used to validate the assumptions and results of various theoretical, and simulation based studies. In this paper we report on the development of a 5-MBaud, equalized M-QAM prototype wireless testbed system operating at 2.4 GHz and capable of supporting 4-, 16-, 64-, and 256-QAM constellations. The system can realize any DFE structure up to 16-taps with real-time LMS based coefficient adaptation performed every symbol interval. The paper also reports on a preliminary set of experiments that show achievable transmission with bit error rates of better than 10 ^-7 and data rates as high as 30 Mbps within a laboratory and in large partitioned office area, rates of 20 Mbps were achieved when transmitting through walls