Journal of Engineering (JOE)

Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012

Copyright World Science Publisher, United States
www.worldsciencepublisher.org

Performance Analysis of Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) in

OFDM using MATLAB
W.Aziz, 1E.Ahmed, G.Abbas, S.Saleem, Q.Islam
Department of Electrical Engineering
Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad Pakistan
Email: 1ebtisamahmed90@gmail.com
Abstract Wireless communication is the key area of research with increasing demand of high data rate applications at a
low cost. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) is a promising solution for this problem. It is a multi
carrier modulation and as well as a multiplexing technique proposed for 3G, 4G, LTE-A systems to support high data rate
applications in a fading environment. Many problems linked with the multi carrier transmission like phase variations and
Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) are prominent. In this paper we analyze CFO and its effect in detail for OFDM symbol and
then describe techniques to estimate CFO. The estimation techniques cover both domains; time and frequency for OFDM
system. The simulations results are analyzed and presented in this paper are performed in MATLAB.
Keywords Wireless Communication; OFDM; LTE-A; CFO; MATLAB

1. Introduction
A huge amount of development had been made in the
wireless communication systems from the many past years
and is still the vital area of research nowadays. The wireless
medium first used for the transmission of voice when
Marconi invented the radio and after that a rapid growth
had been made in this field. The reason behind we choose
wireless medium for our propagation is the mobility of the
users, which cant handled by the wired networks so
effectively. One main advantage we have the effective
transmission of data and multimedia applications like
images, video, audio files etc. on the wireless propagation
medium [1].
Long distance wireless communication requires the use of
high frequencies as low frequencies cant propagate to such
long distances and also require much large antennas.
Modulation is a scheme which finds the solution to this
problem as by modulating the low frequency baseband
signal to some high carrier frequency and facilitate the
transfer of information. In this technique different
parameters of high frequency carrier signal is varied like
amplitude, frequency and phase etc. which gives birth to
Amplitude Modulation (AM), Frequency Modulation (FM),
Phase Modulation (PM) respectively [2]. These are analog
modulation schemes and in todays world everything is

being digitized and hence digital modulation schemes are

used in recent days. Digital modulation schemes assure
robustness, solves the problem of data encryption and
security and the main thing the recovery of data at the
receiver end, which is not supported by the analog
modulation.
There are many problems associated with the carrier signal
like there might be some phase distortions due to
inaccuracies of carrier signal generation at the transmitter
and receiver ends. We can model this phase noise by a
Zero-Mean Wiener Random Process (ZMWRP). Another
common problem inherited in the carrier signal is the
carrier frequency offset (CFO) which is due to the Doppler
frequency shift with the changing velocity when passing
through the medium. This CFO also occurs due to
differences between the oscillators at the transmitter and
receiver side caused by the system noise temperature at
both respectively [3].
We can develop a relationship for the frequency offset
, where
shows the frequency
by
offset and
,
are the carrier frequencies at the
transmitter and receiver end respectively. Changing
velocity is associated with the Doppler shift. Thus the
relative velocity between transmitter and receiver dictates
the frequency shift
in the carrier frequency which

W. Aziz, et al., JOE, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 5-10, 2012

increases with the carrier frequency as per the following

relation.

This change in frequency causes another

issue of Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) denoted by ;

which must be countered. Apart from the frequency offset it
also depends on frequency step size . Normalized CFO is
given by:

and here

is offset in

frequency which is caused by Doppler Effect and also

caused by oscillator limitations [4].
It is necessary that the oscillator one uses for receiver
should be exactly the same but in spite of all the care taken,
the oscillator has some phase and frequency change
contributing to both STO and CFO.OFDM has a high data
rate by virtue of its orthogonal subcarriers which are spread
in some finite band. It is clear from above equations that
CFO depends on the operating frequency. Thus for a
particular band, the smaller frequencies are affected less
and the higher frequencies more. More emphasis will be put
on their effects in the material to follow.

Figure 1. Effect of IFO on OFDM Symbols

Fractional Frequency Offset

The scenario in which shift in the subcarriers is a fractional
part instead of an integer then it is called fractional carrier
frequency offset. Orthogonality can be lost among the
subcarriers which will cause ICI in return [5]. Received
signal can be expressed as:

2. Effects of CFO
Normalized CFO ( ) can be broken down into Fractional
CFO ( ) which also known as FFO and into Integer CFO
( ) which usually known as IFO [3]. Mathematically it can
be written as:

2.1 Integer Frequency Offset (IFO)

Lets suppose we have "#$

! transmitted symbols at
%&'
the transmitter end which we intend to transmit. When
passing through the channel, IFO affects OFDM symbol by

12 3

( ) 52|.

|" 3 7 2|.

|" 3 8 2 3

8 2 3 describes the thermal Gaussian noise and 7 2|.

|" 3 represents the phase rotated version of the transmitted
symbols caused by the IFO.
We have to cater for the IFO affect, as the integer shift in
subcarriers can degrade the performance of the system by
increasing Bit Error Rate (BER). The IFO effect on the
OFDM symbol doesnt interrupt the orthogonality between
the subcarriers and hence ensures the absence of Inter
Carrier Interference (ICI). This is shown in figure 1.

.! ( )*+%2,=>3/" = 8

%&'

After taking the FFT of equation 2 we have received signal

which is affected by FFO and can be written as:
9 .!

"#$

<9

%&

!( #)*+,%/"

After putting the value of received signal we get the

expression as given below:
"#$

"#$

%&

A&'

1
< < 5 @!
;

9 .!

#)*+%,

-"
the amount of (
after the IFFT block. The
transmitted symbol is shifted by an integer
due to IFO
and results in
.
! for the ./0 subcarrierat the
receiver side after N-point FFT is taken, as shown in figure
1. The received signal will be of the form of:

"#$

1
< 5 .!
;

"#$

< 8
%&

@!( )*+2A#,=>

3%/"

!( #)*+,%/"

After rearranging we have left with the expression:

9 .!

"#$

1
< 5 @!
;
A&

"#$

@! < ( )*+2A#,=>
%&

3%/"

8 .!

Then expanding the above equation and simplifying the

final expression is shown below:
9 .!

%2+> 3
+>
- 3
" %2
"

C .! + 8 .!

B ( )+>

2"#$/"3

B 5 .! B

.!

W. Aziz, et al., JOE, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 5-10, 2012

The term

%2+> 3
+>
- 3
"

" %2

shows the effect of FFO to the

./0 subcarrier which results in amplitude and phase

distortion. As described earlier that ICI occurs due to FFO
which can eliminate the orthogonality between the
subcarriers, the interference is being represented by C .! in
above equation and includes ICI from other subcarrier to

the ./0 subcarrier. This ICI factor can be described

mathematically as below:
C .!
B

( )+>

2"#$3/"

@! B (

"#$

<

DE 2F2@
; B DE 2F2@

A&'
AG,
)+2A#,32"#$3/"3

.
.

33
5 @!
3/;33

CFO=0
1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

CFO=0.01
1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

CFO=0.05
1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2
CFO=0.3

1
0.5
0
-0.5
-1
-1

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

Figure 2. Received Signals Subject to CFO

3. CFO Estimation Techniques

It is necessary to estimate the CFO, which explains
distortion in the transmitted symbols and hence at the
receiver it can be compensated using some estimation
techniques [3]. There are two domains in which we can
perform the estimation of CFO effectively, usually known
as the time and the frequency domain techniques. Now both
will be discussed separately.

3.1 Time Domain Estimation

Time domain estimation proves a fruitful technique in the
case of CFO. The use of training symbols and the cyclic
prefix (CP) are the ways through which we can perform
time domain estimation for CFO efficiently.
3.1.1 Cyclic Prefix
The cyclic prefix (CP) of the OFDM symbol can be used to
estimate the CFO in time domain. We know that the CFO

causes the phase distortion in the OFDM symbol which can

2F be denoted as
; where describes the CFO effect. If
we consider that channel effect is minimal and can be
neglected then the phase difference of the CP and the
OFDM symbol which is the victim of CFO can be found
2F ;by
; 2F . Now we can find the amount of CFO
by the multiplication of OFDM symbol (CFO affected)
with the CP and after that taking their phase angle
measurements [6]. This can be represented by the
mathematical expression below which shows the average
value over the CP samples.
#$

1
IJK L < M ! M
2F
%&#"O

;!P

The range of the CFO () can be estimated from the above

equation. As IJKfunction can be performed by the use of
/I #$ function which has the range of
F, F! in a 2F

W. Aziz, et al., JOE, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 5-10, 2012

interval. This corresponds to the value of CFO in the range

of 0.5, 0.5! accordingly.
We can conclude that the CP results the CFO estimation in
the range | | S 0.5 , hence this technique is useful for the
Fractional CFO (FFO) which deals with the fractional
offsets in the OFDM symbol. There is a drawback of using
CP as improves non-effective in the case of Integer CFO
(IFO), because it does not estimate integer offset.
3.1.2 Training Symbol
To overcome the issues of CP, Training Symbol (TS)
technique can be employed which covers the wide range to
estimate the value of CFO (). TS has repetitive nature with
periods of short duration, which ensures the correlation by
bringing together two sampled OFDM blocks. This will
prove helpful in increasing the range of the CFO.
Lets suppose we denote the ratio of OFDM symbol to the
repetitive length of the pattern by an integer T. Then we can
estimate the CFO by using this integer T by the following
equation:
"/ #$

T
IJK L < M ! M
2F
%&'

;/T!P

This gives an estimation range of| | S T/2, which depends

upon the controllable factor of T. As the value of T
decrease the estimation range of CFO decreases and vice
versa [7].
One main disadvantage in the case of TS is that the value of
Mean Square Error (MSE) increase as we widen our CFO
range. This is due to reduction in the correlation samples by
a factor of 1/T. The solution to this problem is to calculate
average of all the estimates over repetitive short periods
which will reduce the amount of MSE without affecting the
estimation range.

3.2 Frequency Domain Estimation

The problems faced in the time domain estimation of CFO
can be tackled well by the use frequency domain estimation
techniques. The well known technique for CFO estimation
is by pilot insertion or pilot tones.
3.2.1 Pilot Tones
In the pilot tone technique we insert some known symbols
(pilots) information in the frequency domain and then
OFDM symbols transmitted for the purpose of estimating

CFO. After necessary synchronization these known

symbols are extracted at the receiver end after taking FFT
[8].After this frequency domain estimation the received
signal is further compensated by using time domain
estimation techniques as described earlier.
This works well by the implementation of two different
estimation modes commonly known as the tracking and
acquisition modes. Acquisition mode estimates the Integer
CFO by enhancing the range of CFO, while tracking mode
only supports fine CFO [9]. We can estimate the acquisition
mode by the expression below:
W
U

_#$

1
@IZ [\< 9
2F. T XY
&'

] ^ E!

] ^ E!, !9 ^ E!, !

^ E!!\`

Whereadenote the number of pilot tones,^ E! denotes the

location of the E/0 pilot tone, and ^ E! shows the pilot
tone located at^ E! in the frequency domain at the b/0
symbol period. In the same way we can develop a
mathematical expression for Fine CFO as:
W

_#$

1
IJK [\< 9
2F. T XY . T
&$

] ^ E!, UW V ! 9 ^ E!, UW V !
] ^ E!

^ E!!\`

In the tracking mode we estimate the W first and then

compensate the CFO accordingly.

4. Results and Analysis

The first and foremost technique we use for
synchronization is done by exploiting the OFDM symbol;
in particular CP. But here lies the problem that it can only
estimate a limited CFO within the range of | | S 0.5. So,
training symbols are used and corresponding phase
difference in actual symbol and training symbol is
measured and hence CFO.
Now Moose model has much more range given by | | S
1- , but it can also be increased by D times, where D is the
2
number of repetitive patterns. There is the corresponding
increase in the performance which can be seen in figure 3
as BER is decreased. Now in Classen, BER is further
decreased but there is a tradeoff as with the increase in
performance complexity also increases. With CP we have

W. Aziz, et al., JOE, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 5-10, 2012

the least complexity as no overhead is required then the

complexity is increased in Moose and Classen.

CFO Estimation

-2

10

CP-based technique
Moose (Preamble-based)
Classen (Pilot-based)

-3

10

-4

MSE

10

-5

10

-6

10

-7

10

10

15
SNR[dB]

20

25

30

Figure 3. BER performance of different CFO Estimation Techniques

5. Conclusion
OFDM is best for its higher data rates and low BER but its
implementation requires special attention. CFO and STO
estimation is the key to successful communication. Its
valid in every Communication system but OFDM is
particularly more vulnerable. Different CFO estimation
techniques are discussed in the paper along with their
merits and demerits. Moreover, this entirely depends on the
requirements and correspondingly resources are employed
to get the required performance threshold. Classen
Estimation technique is much more efficient and shown in
the paper to work better.

References
[1] W.Aziz, G.Abbas, E.Ahmed, S.Saleem, Q.Islam, Design Analysis of
Analog Data Reception using GNU Radio Companion (GRC), World
Applied Science Journal, 17(1), 2012, pp. 29-35.
[2] E.Ahmed, W.Aziz, S.Saleem, Q.Islam, Performance Analysis of
OFDM System for Different Channel Lengths and Multipath Channel
Taps,

[3] Yong Soo Cho, Jaekwon Kim, Won Young Yang, Chung-Gu Kang,
MIMO-OFDM Wireless Communication with MATLAB, John Wiley &
Sons (Asia), Singapore, 2010.
[4] Jun Wu, Qun Zhou and K.K.M.Cheng, A Joint Estimation Algorithm
of Symbol Timing and Carrier Offset in OFDM Systems, Vehicular
Technology Conference, 2001. Vol 1, pp 712-716.
[5] S. Younis, A. Al-Dweik, C. C. Tsimenidis, B. S. Sharif and A. Hazmi,
The Effect of Timing Errors on Frequency Offset Estimation in OFDM
Systems, International Symposium on Signal Processing and Information
Technology (ISSPIT), 2011, pp. 202-206.
[6] Sankassa B. Senevirathna, Chandimal Jayawardena, Sumudu S. Perera,
Chandima L. Perera, Dhanushka Ranasignhe, Sureni R. Wijerathna ,
Thisara N. Bandara, Carrier Frequency Offset Estimation for OFDM
System using Extended Kalman Filter, 4th International Conference on
Information and Automation for Sustainability, 2008, pp. 351-354.
[7] Yuefen Chen, Frequency offset estimation based on virtual carrier in
OFDM system, International Conference on Image Analysis and Signal
Processing, 2009, pp. 369-371
[8] S. Saleem, Q. Islam, Performance and Complexity Comparison of
Channel Estimation Algorithms for OFDM System, International Journal
of Electrical & Computer Sciences IJECS-IJENS, Vol: 11 No. 02, 2011,
pp. 6-12.
[9] S. Saleem, Q. Islam, W. Aziz, A. Basit, Performance Evaluation of
Linear Channel Estimation Algorithms for MIMO-OFDM in LTEAdvanced, International Journal of Electrical & Computer Sciences
IJECS-IJENS, Vol: 11 No. 03, 2011, pp. 64-69.

W. Aziz, et al., JOE, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 5-10, 2012

Vitae
Ebtisam Ahmed, Waqar Aziz, Ghulam Abbas, are students of B.E
Electrical Engineering at Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad,
Pakistan. Currently they are working on their Final Year Project Design
and Implementation of MIMO-OFDM System using USRP. They have
already published 3 International Journal Papers from their work related to
Final Year Project.
Saqib Saleem is currently working as a Lecturer in Department of
Electrical Engineering at Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad,

10

Pakistan. He has published more that 19 International Journal and 5

International Conference papers. His areas of interest are Channel
Estimation and Detection, Wireless Communication, DSP algorithms,
Spectrum Sensing etc.
Dr.Qamar-ul-Islam is with Department of Communication System
Engineering at Institute of Space Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. He is
currently Head of Department. His areas of interest are Estimation and
Detection Theory, Wireless Communication and Satellite Communication.