An efficient waterfilling algorithm for multiple access OFDM

In this paper we present a novel and computationally efficient waterfilling algorithm for multiuser OFDM. This algorithm is based on the multiuser waterfilling theorem and determines the subcarrier allocation for a multiple access OFDM system. This approach maximizes the total bitrate under the constraints of user-individual power budgets. Once the subcarrier allocation has been established, the bit and power allocation for each user can be determined with a single-user bitloading algorithm, for which several implementations can be found in the literature. The presented iterative algorithm performs well, also with a high number of subchannels.