On the Down-Link Performance of Multi-Carrier CDMA Systems with Partial Equalization

This paper addresses the performance evaluation of multi-carrier code division multiple access systems. A partial equalization technique depending on a parameter adapted to different conditions such as the number of sub-carriers, the number of active users and the mean signal-to-noise ratio is evaluated for the down-link. We analytically derive the performance of this system and the value of the equalization parameter that maximizes the performance. The partial equalization technique is shown to have the same complexity of the well known maximal ratio combining, equal gain combining and orthogonality restoring combining techniques, with significative performance improvement. Analytical results are compared with simulations showing a perfect agreement.