OFDM: back to the wireless future

The key limitation for wireless technologies has been slow transmission rates that didn´t come close to providing the capabilities of wireline services. This left the technologies unable to offer fast downloads or handle multimedia and other desirable applications. Now, however, wireless approaches that use orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-a modulation technique for transmitting large amounts of digital data over a radio wave-are boasting high speeds. The principal driving forces behind OFDM´s increased popularity in wireless technology are the general demand for faster approaches and the specific desire to run multimedia applications, which are data intensive and thus require higher speeds. OFDM has become practical for more widespread use because it relies on high-speed digital signal processors, and DSPs have only recently become available at a price that makes OFDM a competitive technology in the marketplace.