Amplitude PDF Analysis of OFDM Signal Using Probabilistic PAPR Reduction Method

To reduce the peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation scheme, one class of methods is to generate several OFDM symbols (candidates) carrying the same information and to select for transmission the one having the lowest PAPR. We derive a theoretical amplitude probability density function (PDF) of the selected OFDM symbol using order statistics. This amplitude PDF enables one to derive the signal-to-noise-plus-distortion ratio (SNDR) as a function of the number of candidates. Based on the SNDR derivation, theoretical error performance and statistical channel capacity are provided for this class of methods. The results match the simulations and make the system design easier.