Increase the Range and Coverage on OFDM System using PAPR reduction by Clipping on SDR

Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) is a modulation and multiplexing technique widely used in communication systems since it guarantees reliable communications on noisy wireless channels. However, OFDM implementation is a very challenging task due to the high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) value. In this work, a PAPR reduction technique is applied, namely clipping technique. This technique is evaluated in a real OFDM system, which is implemented in software defined radio (SDR). We present and demonstrate that is possible to increase the range and coverage through the efficient use of the transmission power when the PAPR reduction technique is applied in the SDR technology. The results show that when a clipping technique with a threshold of 60% is used, the power required is reduced in 33.75%. Additionally, the reduction percentage could be transformed into 9.58% of increase in range and 63.07% in coverage.