Guest Column: The Basics Of OFDM

By Mark Elo, Keithley Instruments, Inc.

As the demand for fast mobile data rates increases, engineers are constantly looking for new transmission methods. The advent of OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) provides an innovative way to provide broadband data at a relatively low symbol rate, making it a much more robust modulation technique for multipath environments such as homes, offices, or cars. This article explores the basics of OFDM and the new demands placed on RF test instrumentation that will need to test the next generation of wireless communication devices.