A. OFDM JCAS Transmitter
The block diagram of the OFDM transmitter considered in this article can be seen in Fig. 1.
As shown in Fig. 1, input bits are modulated into quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)
symbols $s[q]$. The symbol stream is converted from serial-to-parallel, where the number
of parallel symbols is equal to $N_c$. These $N_c$ complex symbols represent the subcarriers
of the OFDM symbol, which are used as the input of an IFFT.
The output of this IFFT represents the OFDM samples $x[k]$, which are converted back from
parallel to serial. A CP of length $P$ is added to the resulting samples, constructing an
OFDM symbol of length $N_c + P$. The OFDM signal is digital-to-analog converted into the
baseband signal $x(t)$. Afterward, this signal is quadrature modulated into the carrier
frequency $f_c$, resulting in the transmitted signal
(1)
$$x_{\text{TX}}(t) = x(t) e^{j2\pi f_c t}$$
Mathematical Formulation
OFDM Time-Domain Signal
The baseband OFDM signal after IFFT can be expressed as:
(2)
$$x[n] = \frac{1}{N_c} \sum_{k=0}^{N_c-1} s[k] \cdot e^{j2\pi \frac{kn}{N_c}}, \quad n = 0, 1, \ldots, N_c - 1$$
After adding the cyclic prefix, the transmitted samples become:
(3)
$$x_{\text{CP}}[n] = \begin{cases}
x[N_c - P + n], & n = 0, 1, \ldots, P-1 \\
x[n - P], & n = P, P+1, \ldots, N_c + P - 1
\end{cases}$$
Continuous-Time Transmitted Signal
After DAC and carrier modulation, the transmitted RF signal is:
(4)
$$x_{\text{TX}}(t) = \text{Re}\left\{ x(t) \cdot e^{j2\pi f_c t} \right\}$$
where $x(t)$ is the continuous-time baseband signal obtained from the DAC output.
JCAS System Application
In the context of Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS) systems, the OFDM transmitter
serves dual purposes:
- Communication: Carries information bits for data transmission to other vehicles or infrastructure
- Sensing: Acts as a radar waveform for detecting and tracking targets in the environment
The cyclic prefix plays a crucial role in both functions:
- For communication: Eliminates inter-symbol interference (ISI) in multipath channels
- For sensing: Provides range resolution and helps in delay estimation