Schuchert et al.

: A Novel IQ Imbalance Compensation Scheme for the Reception of OFDM Signals 313

, A NOVEL IQ IMBALANCE COMPENSATION SCHEME

FOR THE RECEPTION OF OFDM SIGNALS
Andreas Schuchert and Ralph Hasholzner
Motorola SPS, Munich, Germany
Patrick Antoine
Motorola Semiconducteurs S.A., Toulouse, France

Abstract - Digital receivers still employ analog
components in the demodulation process caus-
ing amplitude and phase imbalances between
the I and Q branches. This article describes a
novel digital compensation scheme for Orthogo-
nal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM)
receivers based on adaptive frequency domain
filtering to remove the IQ imbalance effects.
I. INTRODUCTION
imbalance by adaptive filtering in the frequency
domain. In contrast to [ 3 , 51, the design goal here is
to equalize linear distortions, mainly caused by
multipath reception, and distortions from IQ down-
converter imperfections, in the same equalizer net-
work. The novel cancellation method can be
applied to all OFDM transmission schemes using
interspersed pilot subcarriers over the frequency
band. For this paper, system simulations are carried
out with DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcast - Terres-
trial) specified OFDM signals [ 11.

In order to gain world wide acceptance the market

channel selection
of digital TV has to provide low-cost receivers to
the consumer. The necessity of low production
costs, in combination with highly sophisticated
transmission schemes, leads to a reassessment of
traditional receiver front end structures in order to
minimize the amount of expensive chip-external
components. New solutions offer high silicon inte-
channel selection
gration potential. System flexibility can be achieved
by programmable lowpass filtering instead of using
fixed SAW filters. A tuner concept directed towards
the direct conversion principle, but still applying a Fig. 1 , Flexible downconversion structure with
two stage frequency translation, is shown in Fig. 1. amplitude imbalance E and phase
This structure dispenses with expensive external imbalance A q
SAW filters and involves, like the direct conversion
tuner, analog IQ downconversion followed by ana-
log lowpass filters. The channel selection is per- This paper is organized as follows.'In section I1 the
formed in the lowpass domain where the required basics of OFDM are briefly reviewed. The effects
transfer function can be realized more flexibly com- of IQ imbalance on OFDM signals are treated in
pared to fixed SAW filtering at intermediate fre- section 111. In section IV the novel adaptive equal-
quencies [5]. izer structure capable of removing signal distor-
Due to manufacturing inaccuracies analog compo- tions from IQ imbalance in frequency selective
nents cause amplitude and phase imbalances transmission channels is introduced. Simulation
between the I and Q branches [2]. This paper pro- results for DVB-T signals are shown in section V.
poses a novel IQ imbalance compensation scheme
for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex
(OFDM) receivers removing distortions from IQ

Manuscript received June 25, 2001 0098 3063/00 $10.00 2001 IEEE

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314
11. OFDM SIGNALLING
Figs. 2 and 3 illustrate the OFDM concept [6,9]. A
stream of complex valued symbols Ai[k] is grouped
into blocks of N symbols. In DVB-T the symbols
are taken from QAM constellations. After rectan-
gular windowing, N orthogonal subcarriers at fre-
quencies fk = WNT, k = 0 ... N-1, are sampled at
time instants tn = (iN+n)T, n = 0 ... N-1, and modu-
lated by the corresponding symbols Ai[k] to form
the N samples of the i-th OFDM symbol si[n].
transmtter filter bank (IFFT)
rect window
I
I
rect window
_ _ _ - _ - _ - - -
Fig. 2 OFDM transmitter
Demodulation of all subcarriers in an OFDM
receiver yields the complex valued symbols Ki[l]
received on subcarrier 1,1= 0 ... N-1, during the i-th
OFDM symbol. The OFDM receiver is shown in
Fig. 3.
receiver filter bank (FIT)
Fig. 3 OFDM receiver
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IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 47, No. 3, AUGUST 2001
The operations in OFDM transmitter and receiver
filter banks are equivalent to inverse discrete Fou-
rier transforms (IDFT) and discrete Fourier trans-
forms (DFT), respectively. They are efficiently
implemented by fast Fourier transforms (FFT) [ 7 ] .
Inserting cyclically extended guard intervals
between two successive OFDM symbols restores
the orthogonality in multipath channels and there-
fore Ki[l] can be written as
AIi[l] = Hi[l]Ai[l] , -(I)
where Hi[l] is the channel transfer function at fre-
quency VNT during the i-th OFDM symbol [8].
As can be readily seen from equation (l), the ideal
linear frequency domain equalizer for a linearly
distorted OFDM signal r,[n] is a bank of complex
valued multipliers. The correction factor is formed
by the inverse of the estimated (interpolated) value
Hi [ k] of the channel transfer function according to
J A [ k ] = Hi[k]A,[k] 3 Ai[k] = -
Atkl. (2)
fi,[kI
N i [ k ] (i,k) E D & [ k ] (i, k ) E D
Ai[k] (i,k) E P -
I
(i, k ) E D
Hi[kl
Fig.4 Bank of multipliers as linear frequency
domain equalizer (D represents all data
subcarrier and time indices, P all pilot
subcarrier and time indices)
Schuchert et al.: A Novel IQ Imbalance Compensation Scheme for the Reception of OFDM Signals
The structure of such 1-tap equalizers convention-
ally used for OFDM transmission is depicted in
Fig. 4 [6].
111. EFFECTS O F IQ IMBALANCE
Because equalization in OFDM receivers operates
on the frequency domain representation of OFDM
signals, it is appropriate to consider imbalance
effects after having been processed by a DFT oper-
ation. Amplitude or phase mismatches between the
quadrature components of the time domain signal
'
during IQ downconversion express in the frequency
domain by a complex scaled version of the original
signal and an additional interfering component at
the image frequency [3,4]. In matrix notation this
effect can be described by:
(3) shows the resulting distorted symbols A'[k]
depending on the undistorted symbols A[k] at index
k and the undistorted (conjugated complex) sym-
bols at the image carrier A*[-k].
Equation (3) utilizes the fact that the subcarriers of
the DVB-T signal are symmetrically arranged
around the I2F center frequency [l]. After down-
conversion to base band, the center frequency of the
subcarrier at index -k exactly coincides with the
image of the center frequency of the subcarrier at
index k. Note, that the orthogonality to all other
subcarriers is preserved.
The complex valued distortion parameters p[k] and
v[k] are assumed to be a function of the subcarrier
index k, i.e. they are frequency dependent and can
directly be calculated from the frequency depen-
dent phase and amplitude errors by [3]:
' (\ A. I)
Fig. 5 depicts the results of pure amplitude, pure
phase and combined amplitude-phase imbalances
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315
separately for the real and imaginary part of the
spectrum. As example, a 16-point DFT has been
applied with a single subcarrier at index k = 2 with
amplitude A[k=2] = 1. To see the principal effects,
extremely high, frequency independent imbalances
E = 0.15 and Acp = 15 are assumed.
undistonrd amplitude imh. phase imh. phawlamplitudr m h .
Fig. 5 IQ imbalance effects
The IQ imbalance generates an interfering compo-
nent at index -2mod16 = 14 in Fig. 5.
In an OFDM signal, there is a superposition of the
scaled original signal spectrum p[k]A[k] and the
generated interfering spectrum v[-k]A*[-k] leading
to distorted symbols A'[k] on all subcarriers of the
OFDM signal.
IV. EXTENDED ADAPTIVE FREQUENCY
DOMAIN EQUALIZATION
Conventional 1-tap equalizers are not capable of
removing the distortions from IQ imbalance, since
they do not take into account the image carrier gen-
erating the additive interfering component. In fact,
the interfering image carriers act as additional noise
sources [3,5].
A novel adaptive equalizer structure is proposed to
remove both, linear and IQ imbalance, distortions
individually for each subcarrier thus allowing for
the compensation of frequency dependent IQ
imbalances. The novel adaptive equalizer structure
is shown in Fig. 6.
316
Fig. 6 Extended adaptive frequency domain
equalizer
The subcarrier selection part determines the desired
subcarrier to be corrected and its corresponding
image carrier and feeds both signals into the adap-
tive equalizer. The equalizer for a single subcarrier
is a 2-multiplier FIR filter-like network, with its
coefficients adapted according to the minimum
mean square error criterion by the LMS (least mean
square) algorithm.
ci+,[k] = ~ ~ [ k ] + p . a ' ~ [ k ] . E * ~ [ k ]
Ei[kl= Di[k] -Yi[k]
H
Yi[k] = c i[k]. a'i[k]
c[k] = [C*i[k],C*i[-k]]T designates the coefficient
vector and a'[k] = [A'i[k],A'i[-k]]Tthe data input
vector. Di[k] represents the reference signal, either^
a pilot subcarrier or the decided equalizer output
symbols Yi[k] used as estimate &[k] for the trans-
mitted symbols Ai[k].
Owing to its robustness and simple architecture, the
LMS algorithm [lo, 111 seems to be a proper
choice for the application in DVB-T receivers.
Since the DVB-T signal is received as a continuous
stream and there is no interactivity, its slow conver-
gence time is not an issue.
The detailed filter structure is shown in Fig. 7.
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IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics, Vol. 47, No. 3, AUGUST 2001
coefficient-adaptation
Fig. 7 Filter structure to compensate the IQ
imbalance of subcarrier A[k]
The adaptation process consists of two stages. After
the data aided training phase, based on pilot subcar-
riers, correctly adjusted values for the filter coeffi-
cients are available at the pilot subcarrier positions.
These values serve in a second, decision directed
phase as initialization values for the filter coeffi-
cients of neighboring data subcarrier positions. In
this way, the adaptive equalizer removes channel
distortions and IQ errors and provides a corrected
value for each complex valued symbol on all data
(5)
subcarriers. In addition, the data aided training
phase improves the convergence speed.
V. SIMULATION RESULTS
The effectiveness of the compensation mechanism
is underlined by simulation results. Fig. 8 and Fig. 9
show constellation diagrams across all subcarriers
of an OFDM symbol for two different reception
conditions illustrating the adaptation process. In the
figures, the number of iterations increases from
upper left to lower right. In the upper left, the
equalizer input signal is shown. The next three con-
stellations are snapshots of the pilot subcarrier
positions during the data aided phase. The constel-
lations at the lst, 25th, and 100th iteration are
depicted. The following two constellations com-
Schuchert et al.: A Novel IQ Imbalance Compensation Scheme for the Reception of OFDM Signals 317

prise all subcarrier positions at the 1st iteration of

the decision directed phase, and after 30 iterations
into the decision directed phase.
In Fig. 8, the transmitted OFDM signal is subjected
to an amplitude imbalance E = 0.05, a phase imbal-
ance Acp = 5 and a linear distortion represented by
a,

an amplitude ramp over the frequency index, and an equalizer output at k g i n equalizer output after
additional constant phase rotation. of first adaptation phasr 25 iterations

I I I I I I

FFT-output signal equalizer output at begin equalizer output after equalizer output after
o f first adaptation phase 25 iterations 100 iterations

'i I . . . .'
I - .......-
'I .. ..-
1
.,I
1
...... I
...... .
: . :.:,; : :.;. 1
.
1 . . . . . ., . . i
I#

. . .. .... .. .. .. .... .... . . . . . .. ... .. ... ... .. ... .. . !

I
Fig. 9 Equalizer output with AWGN and IQ
imbalance

VI. CONCLUSIONS

A novel equalization scheme for OFDM receivers

Fig. 8 Equalizer output with linear channel has been introduced. In addition to equalizing lin-
distortions and IQ imbalance ear channel distortions the proposed structure is
able to remove frequency dependent IQ imbalance
effects introduced by imperfect analog IQ down-
After the filter coefficients have converged at pilot
converters. The scheme is based on a modified 2-
subcarrier positions during the pilot aided adapta-
tap FIR filter structure with adaptive coefficient
tion phase, the equalizer output is identical to the
adjustment. A proof of concept is given by simula-
pilot symbols k 4/3 + j . O embedded in the DVB-T
tion results.
sequence. Using these values as initialization val-
ues for neighboring data subcaniers yields dis-
torted constellations at the begin of the second
phase, at first. Again, after convergence in the deci-
sion directed phase, the equalizer output yields the
desired noise free 64-QAM constellation. Fig. 8 REFERENCES
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kA
Andreas Schuchert received the Dip1 -In&
degree from the Aachen University of
Technology (RWTH Aachen), Germany in
1990 From 1991 to 1996 he was with the
research and development institute of
broadcasting technology (IRT GmbH,
Munich) in the satellite systems section.
being involved in the introduction of the
DVB-S transmission system Since I996 he
is with the Motorola Semiconductor Prod-
ucts Sector in Munich His scope of activi-
ty comprises the development and imple-
mentation of signal processing algorithms and system solutions foi
digital communication receivers Currently he is engaged in cost-
effective system architectures of OFDM receivers for DVB-T recep-
tion, focussing on the digital compensation of IQ-imbalance effects
Ralph Hasholzner (ralph hasholzner@)
motorola com) received Dipl.-Ing. and Dr.-
Ing degrees in electrical engineering and
information technology from the Technis-
che Universitaet Muenchen in 1995 and
1999, respectively From 1995 to 1999 he
worked as a research assistant at the Insti-
tute for Integrated Circuits, Technische
Universitaet Muenchen focussing on xDSL
and broadband wireless communications
In 1999 he joined Motorola Semiconductor
Products Sector in Munich, Germany,
where he is involved in the development and implementation of signal
processing algorithms and system concepts for terrestrial digital tele-
vision receivers He is a member of IEEE and VDE
<'
Patrick Antoine studied electronics at
the ESSTIN in Nancy (France) and
received his Dip1 -Eng. in 1982 with the
option Control Loop Systems and Cyber-
netics He worked at Philips Consumer in
Suresnes (near Paris) in research and devel-
opment of consumer video decoders and
discramblers He joined Motorola Semi
Conductors in 1989 in Toulouse (France)
where he is working as an application engi-
neer for analog and digital consumer video
IC's. He is in charge of the applications for
digital demodulators for DVB-T market and is engaged in the devel-
opment of mixed mode solutions for tuner IC's