Configurable, resource-optimized FFT architecture for OFDM communication

In this paper, we present a designer-configurable, resource efficient FPGA architecture for OFDM system implementation. Our design achieves a significant improvement in resource efficiency for a given data rate. This efficiency improvement is achieved through careful analysis of how FFT computation is performed within the context of OFDM systems, and streamlining memory management and control logic based on this analysis. In particular, our OFDM-targeted FFT design eliminates redundant buffer memory, and simplifies control logic to save FPGA resources. We have synthesized and tested our design using the Xilinx ISE 13.4 synthesis tool, and compared the results with the Xilinx FFT v7.1, which is a widely used commercial FPGA IP core. We have demonstrated that our design provides at least 8.8% enhancement in terms of resource efficiency compared to Xilinx FFT v7.1 when it is embedded within the same OFDM configuration.