QPSK-dual carrier modulation for ultra-wideband communication in body area network channels

Abstract

Dual carrier modulation (DCM) using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) improves the performance in multipath fading channels. In the literature DCM is proposed with 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16QAM) for ultra-wideband (UWB) communication, with four bits per symbol to keep reliable high date transmission over longer distances. Body area network (BAN) standards address transmission reliability more than data rate. UWB is one of the physical layers proposed in BAN standards. In this study, DCM is used with quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) instead of 16QAM to have better performance in reliable transmission. The performance of QPSK-DCM is analyzed and compared with 16QAM-DCM, QPSK-OFDM, and 16QAM-OFDM in a wireless body area network channel. These simulation results are given as bit error rate (BER) versus signal to noise ratio per bit ( E b /N0 ) graphs. Additionally, derivations of theoretical BER − E b /N0 performances of QPSK-OFDM and 16QAM-DCM in an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel are given.Due to the high data rate carrier and low energy consumption features of UWB, it is defined in some communication standards such as ECMA 368, IEEE 802.15.3a, and IEEE 802.15.6. ECMA 368 and IEEE 802.15.3a specify the high data rate in short range communication. Unlike these two standards, IEEE 802.15.6 specifies high quality of service (QoS) because it is a communication standard of a body area network, which has vital importance [3]. ECMA 368 and IEEE 802.15.3a standards use UWB physical layer (PHY) supporting high data rates with multiband orthogonal frequency division modulation (MB-OFDM) [4, 5]. IEEE 802.15.6 offers three PHY: narrowband, ultra-wideband, and human body communications PHYs. IEEE 802.15.6 UWB PHY included impulse radio (IR-UWB) and wideband frequency modulation (FM-UWB). Even though the * Correspondence: salim@ktu.edu.tr This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.