Low-PAPR condition for 5G-candidate waveforms

International audienceTo meet 5G networks challenges in terms of high data ratesand spectral efficiency, one solution might be using multicarriermodulations (MCM)s. However, using MCMs issynonymous with low energy efficiency due to their highpeak-to-average power ratio (PAPR). Indeed, high PAPRsignals drive power amplifiers to operate most of the timein the linear zone. This latter corresponds to low power efficiency.This leads to a trade-off between spectral and energyefficiency. For this reason, PAPR reduction techniqueshave been highly addressed in literature. In this work, thistrade-off is addressed differently: a necessary conditionto achieve better PAPR performance than orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) is established. Thistheoretical condition is verified by simulation results carriedon Fourier-based and wavelet-based MCMs. The establishedcondition classifies the MCMs into three categoriesregarding the PAPR: same as, higher than and lowerthan the OFDM PAPR level