Reconfigurable architecture based on FPGA for OFDM transmitter

Future communication systems such as 5G will require high interoperability between standards, obligating current designs to contemplate the inclusion of multiple standards into a single device. Therefore, the main communication blocks must be designed with high capability in terms of reconfigurability. This paper presents the architecture and implementation of a reconfigurable Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) transmitter with such capabilities. The proposed architecture is capable of generating frames for the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard and with minimal modifications can also generate frames for IEEE 802.11a and 802.11g standards. The configuration parameters can be adjusted on-the-fly via configuration registers, such as: frame size, cyclic prefix (CP) size, data modulation type, and pilot values. Additionally, it is possible to operate in the five bandwidths required for LTE, allowing its inclusion in multi-standard design and software design radio platforms. Results have shown a moderate FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) consumption and good SQNR (signal-to-quantization-noise ratio) performance of 50 dB average.