An Accurate Low Complexity Method for Studying Quantization Effects in Base Station Cooperation Systems

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulations are very popular in wireless communications due to their flexibility and good performance over severely time-dispersive channels. However, OFDM signals have large peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR), which leads to amplification problems. Constant envelope OFDM (CE-OFDM) techniques use an OFDM signal to modulate the phase of a given carrier, allowing a 0 dB PAPR, with all inherent advantages. However, the phase modulator is a nonlinear device that can lead to performance degradation. In this paper, we take advantage of the Gaussian characteristics of OFDM signals to characterize analytically CE-OFDM signals, both in terms of power spectral density (PSD) and optimum asymptotic performance.