Low-Complexity Universal Filtered Multi-Carrier Receiver and Pilot-Aided Channel Estimation for 6G OFDM Waveforms
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Waveform design is a key enabler for 6G and beyond wireless systems, where low-latency, high-reliability, and energy-efficient communication are essential. Universal filtered multi-carrier (UFMC), as an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-variantwaveform, enhances spectral containment through subband filtering while remaining compatible with OFDM-based architectures. However, conventional UFMC receivers incur high computational complexity due to extended 2N-point FFT processing. Motivated by our prior work on reducing FFT operations in multiuser (MU) OFDM systems, this paper proposes a low-complexity UFMC receiver architecture that replaces the conventional 2N-point FFT with anN-point FFT, thereby reducing computational requirements while ensuring accurate signal recovery. A pilot-assisted channel estimation framework based on least squares (LS) estimation and interpolation is further developed. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to jointly address low-complexity receiver design and channel estimation performance in UFMC. Complexity analysis demonstrates substantial reductions in arithmetic operations, while simulation results confirm comparable bit error rate (BER) and channel estimation accuracy under multipath fading. These findings highlight UFMC as an OFDM-compatible waveform suitable for scalable, low-power, and future wireless systems.
Source: IEEE Access
Author: Tuncay Eren
Institution: Türk Telekom (Turkey)
Language: English
Topic: PAPR reduction in OFDM
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,075
OpenAlex ID: W4414908522