Minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) detection of multicarrier code-division multiple-access (CDMA) signals is investigated. The theoretical performance of two different design strategies for MMSE detection are compared. In one case, the MMSE filters are designed separately for each carrier, while in the other case the optimization of the filters is done jointly. Naturally, the joint optimization produces a better receiver, but the difference in performance is shown to be substantial. The multicarrier CDMA performance is then compared to that of a single-carrier CDMA system on a frequency-selective fading channel. A mechanism is then developed to track the channel fading parameters for all the users' signals so that joint optimization of the receiver filters is possible in a time-varying channel. Simulation results show that the performance of this receiver is close to ideal theoretical results for moderate vehicle speeds. The performance begins to degrade when the normalized Doppler rate is higher than about 1%.

In this paper, the overlay of a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) cellular system in a frequency band which is already providing service to a narrow-band cellular system is investigated. The motivation for this study is to demonstrate the potential of CDMA overlay as an efficient method for making a long-term transition from narrow-band cellular to CDMA cellular. For the single cell case, it was shown by Rainbolt and Miller (see IEEE J. Select. Areas Commun., vol.16, p.1756-64, 1998) that interference caused to the narrow-band system by even a lightly-loaded CDMA system is significant, a problem which can be greatly alleviated through the use of notch filtering in the CDMA transmitters to avoid active narrow-band users. Similar conclusions will be reached in this paper for the cellular case. The effects of notching on CDMA performance will be looked at in detail, and it will be shown that the notching is less of a problem than is the narrow-band interference inherent in overlay systems.

A code-division multiple access (CDMA) cellular overlay system is investigated, employing the idea of multicarrier CDMA, which has previously received significant attention as an alternative to traditional single-carrier CDMA. Overlay is pursued here as a means of long-term transition from narrowband cellular to CDMA cellular. A major result of this paper is the demonstration that the use of multicarrier CDMA in a fading channel is particularly beneficial to the narrowband system, as the CDMA users can reduce their transmitted powers as a result of diversity. Another significant conclusion is that the use of transmitter notching in the CDMA system in order to avoid active narrowband users outperforms a strategy in which a narrowband user is avoided by simply dropping the particular carrier which overlays it. Finally, results on the use of the minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) receiver in a fading channel are extended for use in the overlay scenario.

In order to take advantage of the unused bandwidth available in sparsely populated narrowband systems, the concept of code-division multiple-access (CDMA) overlay has been examined (Milstein et al., 1992). It was shown in Rainbolt and Miller (1997) that even a CDMA system that is lightly loaded can cause significant degradation to the performance of the narrowband system, perhaps precluding the possibility of overlay. However, by notching the CDMA signal in those frequencies at which a narrowband user is operating, the effect of the CDMA interference on the performance of a narrowband user was shown to be greatly alleviated. This paper examines the effects of notch filtering on the performance of the CDMA system in an overlay scenario, and it is shown that the minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) receiver (Miller 1995; Rapajic and Vucetic 1994; Madhow and Honig 1994; Pateros and Saulnier 1996) can be used successfully, and offers a substantial improvement over the conventional matched-filter receiver. The results of this paper, along with those of Rainbolt and Miller, give strong support to both the feasibility and usefulness of CDMA overlay.

The concept of code division multiple access (CDMA) overlay has been proposed as a way to take advantage of the unused bandwidth available in sparsely populated narrowband systems. Most research up to this point has focused on the effects of the narrowband system on the CDMA system. However, because the CDMA system is likely to be overlaid on a narrowband system that is already established, it is of equal or greater importance to examine how the CDMA overlay would affect the narrowband system's performance. It is shown that even a lightly loaded CDMA system can have a detrimental effect on a narrowband system to the point where the possibility of overlay may be precluded. To solve this problem, the idea of notch filtering the CDMA signals in an effort to avoid those bands already occupied by narrowband users is examined. For certain filtering methods the effects of CDMA interference on the narrowband system are shown to be greatly reduced, thus making overlay feasible from the perspective of the narrowband system. For the CDMA system, the performance of the minimum mean-squared error (MMSE) receiver was evaluated and it was found to work quite well with CDMA signals that have been notched. With CDMA transmitter filtering, the prospects for overlay become very encouraging.