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Evaluation of OFDM and OTFS under high-Doppler 6G midband channels
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Authors: Sabbir Ahmed, Hirley Alves, Ari Pouttu
Status: Final
Date of publication: 30 June 2026
Published in: ITU Journal on Future and Evolving Technologies, Volume 7 (2026), Issue 2, Pages 85-99
Article DOI : https://doi.org/10.52953/WOBH4207
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Abstract:
The robustness of waveform selection is crucial for reliable physical-layer design for the upcoming 6th Generation (6G) wireless technology. This study presents a comparative performance evaluation of Orthogonal Time Frequency Space (OTFS) and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) waveforms, using Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) and Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK), in high-Doppler midband channels. The study focused on the 6G midband (7-15 GHz) spectrum, utilizing a 10 GHz carrier and 1 GHz bandwidth. The simulation results demonstrated that OTFS achieves significant performance improvements over OFDM with Bit Error Rate (BER) gains ranging from 1.14x at low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) to over 2000x at 20 dB SNR, Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) improvements of 21.4% to 68.9%, and Spectral Efficiency (SE) gains up to 7.3%. OTFS approached theoretical Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) performance bounds, while OFDM saturated at BER about 6.8 x 10-2 due to Inter-Carrier Interference (ICI). The study's outcomes suggested that OTFS is a promising candidate waveform for reliable 6G wireless technology in dynamic environments, with reduced-complexity block-circulant detectors making practical deployment feasible. |
Keywords: 6G, BER, BPSK, delay-Doppler modulation, EVM, high-Doppler channels, midband spectrum, OFDM, OTFS, physical layer reliability, QPSK, spectral efficiency
Rights: © International Telecommunication Union, available under the CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO license.
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