Increase in multicast OFDM data rate in PLC network using adaptive LP-OFDM

Linear precoding (LP) technique applied to OFDM systems has already proved its ability to significantly increase the system throughput in a powerline communication (PLC) context. In this paper, we propose resource allocation algorithms based on the LP technique to increase the multicast OFDM systems bit rate. The conventional multicast capacity is limited by the user which experiences the worst channel conditions. To increase the multicast bit rate, these proposed algorithms assign subcarriers and bits to different multicast users. Simulations are run over PLC channels and it is shown that the proposed solutions offer a bit rate gain up to 37% compared to the conventional multicast bit rate.