Signal testing is complete on the national NSF PAWR COSMOS testbed site for the DFT Spread orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) with Harris Tapered Nyquist Filter, called the “spectralDSP SC-OFDM” waveform. This signal demonstrates an extraordinary peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) improvement allowing a significant reduction of the power consumption of the power amplifier. The PAPR reduction improves cell coverage and increases the radiated transmit power. Increased power permits the use of a larger cell radius for the same transmission energy level as traditional OFDM, this translates to fewer cell sites to cover the desired area. This waveform benefits the true 5G mmWave and low latency/gigabit speeds.
“5G has stalled in the recent years due to the high costs of implementation,” as explained by spectralDSP’s President, Pete Wassell, “spectralDSP has mathematically invented a patent-pending, cost-efficient waveform that we are inserting into base station software. They can send a modified cellular signal at the same bitrate as standard OFDM using half of the amplified energy. This is a substantial achievement since cell tower base stations will soon account for ~3 percent of all electrical power consumption worldwide. Telcos currently spend 6 percent of their operating expenses on energy costs.” According to Goldman Sachs, telcos will need to reduce their cost base by 30 percent per annum to maintain margins and cater for true 5G traffic at the same time. There are currently 5 million cell towers worldwide, with many more needed to roll out 5G. These new base stations cost $250,000 on average to build.
spectralDSP’s proprietary waveform modulation technique is at the heart of the solution. spectralDSP technology reduces OFDM PAPR in order to achieve low energy consumption. While we are currently focused on the cellular industry, their solution applies across the entire RF spectrum. spectralDSP’s CTO, Dr. Fred Harris, is an IEEE Fellow, CUBIC signal processing chair at SDSU, holds 18 patents, has written over 170 journal and conference papers, authored several books on Digital Signal Processing, and contributed to the invention of cable modems and modern-day satellite communication. Their solution can be rolled out via simple reprogramming of cellular modem software. They expect to have a similar PA efficiency boost on UE handsets, enabling longer battery life or BOM cost savings. spectralDSP software resides at the DSP level and software for handsets.