Spectral Efficiency of Asynchronous MC-CDMA With Frequency Offset Over Correlated Fading

Multiple-access interference (MAI) and intercarrier interference (ICI) due to a carrier frequency offset are two major factors that deteriorate the performance of multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) in wireless communications. This paper presents a new mathematical analysis for the spectral efficiency of asynchronous MC-CDMA communication systems over a frequency-selective Rayleigh fading environment. It employs accurate statistical models for MAI and ICI that account for the correlation between adjacent subcarriers to derive a new simple expression. An approximate expression for the spectral efficiency is also provided, which reduces complexity.