On the performance of MC-CDMA with transmit diversity over fast frequency selective fading channels

Space-time (ST) block coded multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) has been proposed as an attractive solution for high data rate transmission in a multipath fading environment. A space-time-frequency (STF) block coded MC-CDMA scheme is presented. The proposed scheme is a four-branch transmitter diversity system which utilizes block codes formed over the space, time and frequency domains. The performance of the STF block coded MC-CDMA scheme is then compared with that of the ST block coded MC-CDMA and SF block coded MC-CDMA systems with four transmitting antennas. It is shown that the proposed STF block coded MC-CDMA scheme gives better performance over fast frequency selective fading channels.