Performance comparison of low density parity check codes using square root Kalman equalisation and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing techniques for broadband fixed wireless access systems

Broadband fixed wireless access (BFWA) systems enable services such as high-speed data communication, high quality voice/video conferencing and high-speed internet access in areas where a wired link is not possible. However, the BFWA channel is a slow-fading channel having deep frequency-selective fading caused by clusters of scatterers in the environment that introduce inter-symbol interference (ISI) at the receiver. Low density parity check (LDPC) codes, optimised for the single-input single-output BFWA channel, are designed using the structured balance incomplete block design method. The use of both quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) and 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) are investigated theoretically. To help overcome the ISI effects of the channel, equalisation techniques are employed separately with LDPC decoding for a system employing QPSK and 16-QAM modulation schemes. The equaliser single carrier approach is then replaced with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and the performance of these two approaches is evaluated in terms of bit-error rate. The simulation results show that equalisation with LDPC coding has a measurable performance gain over LDPC coding with OFDM.