Energy-scalable OFDM transmitter design and control

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is the modulation of choice for broadband wireless communications. Unfortunately, it comes at the cost of a very low energy efficiency of the analog transmitter. Numerous circuit-level and signal processing techniques have been proposed to improve that energy efficiency. However more disruptive improvement can be achieved at system-level, capitalizing on energy-scalable design and circuit reconfiguration to match the user requirements and operation environment. We describe the design of such an energyscalable reconfigurable transmitter as well as its control strategy. Based on measurement carried out on the physical realization of this transmitter, the benefit of system-level energy management is shown. Energy-efficiency scalability ranges over 30%, which translates in an average system-level energy improvement of up to 40% compared to a non-scalable system. Categories and Subject Descriptors B.7.0 [Integrated circuit]: General General...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: DAC
• Authors: Björn Debaillie, Bruno Bougard, Gregory Lenoir, Gerd Vandersteen, Francky Catthoor
• Keywords: Computer Architecture, DAC 2006, Energy Efficiency, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, System-level Energy