OTFS modulation exploration for robust 6G communications in high mobility scenarios

Abstract

Orthogonal Time-frequency-space (OTFS) modulation represents a pioneering advancement, tailored to the requirements of prospective sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks. The innovative design effectively addresses the challenges associated with high-frequency dispersion in wireless transmission environments, offering many advantages over traditional modulation schemes such as orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM). A notable advantage of OTFS is its ability to adapt to dynamic wireless channels with high Delay-Doppler (DD) dispersion, a capability that is not present in traditional frameworks. In contrast to conventional approaches, which assume near-channel stability over an OTFS frame, OTFS modulation is well-suited to environments where the input-output relationship may vary over time due to evolving media or environmental conditions. A comparative analysis with OFDM reveals that OTFS exhibits superior performance concerning the block error rate (BLER) as opposed to the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) across varying modulation formats, including QPSK, 16QAM, and 64QAM. Numerical simulations demonstrate that OTFS outperforms OFDM in mitigating transmission errors in diverse scenarios by exploring different reception rates for each waveform.