Adaptive Waveform Shaping for Interference-Resilient OFDM Communications

Abstract

Wireless communication systems that rely on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) increasingly suffer from co-channel interference, narrowband interference, multipath fading, and noise in congested and contested spectrum environments. Current mitigation approaches—such as static subcarrier nulling, fixed windowing, notch filtering, and high-complexity MIMO or iterative receiver processing—are often ineffective under time-varying interference conditions. These methods either waste valuable spectrum, increase latency and power consumption, or require hardware-intensive implementations, limiting their ability to maintain high signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) and reliable throughput in real-world deployments.

Researchers at Florida Atlantic University have developed an adaptive waveform shaping technique for OFDM systems that dynamically optimizes the transmitted signal to maximize signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) in real time. Unlike conventional approaches that rely on static filtering, subcarrier deactivation, or hardware-intensive receiver processing, this innovation applies optimized coding at the inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) stage, allowing the waveform to adapt directly to measured channel and interference conditions. Simulation and prototype software-defined radio studies demonstrate SINR improvements of up to 8.5 dB under heavy interference. The technology is currently at the algorithm validation and simulation stage, with feasibility demonstrated in software-based implementations and positioned for further development and system-level integration.

FAU seeks to advance this innovation into the marketplace through licensing or development partnerships.

Benefit

Market Application

Publications

Adaptive Waveform Shaping for SINR-Optimal Interference Avoidance in OFDM Systems