A differential phase-shift keying multicarrier code division multiple access system with an equal gain combining receiver

Multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) is a spread-spectrum technique which allows simple implementation of multiuser detection techniques. Combining this with differential phase-shift keying (DPSK) allows a low complexity receiver design which achieves the channel estimation implicitly. If only downlink communication is considered, performing the DPSK at a subcarrier level allows significant performance gains and employing a joint phase estimation approach for all users signals allows the implementation of an effective equal gain combining receiver. Theoretical predictions and simulations of the performance in additive white Gaussian noise are demonstrated. Comparison with similar systems is shown through simulations in a fast fading typical mobile channel.