An exact error floor for downlink MC-CDMA in correlated Rayleigh fading channels

Downlink multicarrier code-division multiple access (MC-CDMA) with maximal ratio combining (MRC) in correlated Rayleigh fading channels is considered. An exact error floor in a closed-form expression is provided based on the characteristic function (CF) and residue calculation method. Numerical results show that orthogonal spreading sequences (Walsh and orthogonal Gold sequences) perform better than nonorthogonal sequences (Gold sequences) and Walsh codes have the best performance. In addition, downlink MC-CDMA is found to benefit from the correlation between subcarriers.