Efficient Allocation Algorithms for Multicarrier Spread-Spectrum Schemes in UWB Applications

In this paper, we propose a multicarrier spread spectrum (MC-SS) waveform for high data rate UWB applications, taking into account the American and the European UWB contexts. This new waveform for UWB is presented as an evolution of the well known Multiband OFDM Alliance (MBOA) solution and does not increase the system complexity significantly. First, we optimize the number of spreading codes to maximize the system range for a fixed QPSK constellation. Secondly, we use variable constellation orders and we propose a low-complexity resource allocation algorithm that maximizes the system throughput. We show that our adaptive MC-SS system transmits information at much higher attenuation levels and with higher throughput compared to the MBOA solution, and can be advantageously exploited for UWB applications.