Multicarrier Waveform Design for Next-Generation Wireless Communication Systems

Multicarrier waveform design lies at the heart of modern wireless systems, offering a flexible framework to meet ever-diverse service requirements. Building on the success of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) in 4G and 5G, researchers are exploring evolutions such as filtered multicarrier, non-orthogonal waveforms and adaptive numerology to improve spectral efficiency, reduce latency and support heterogeneous quality-of-service demands. Key innovations include dynamic subcarrier shaping, power-domain multiplexing and machine-learning-driven modulation, all aimed at compressing time–frequency resources and enabling simultaneous support for enhanced mobile broadband, ultra-reliable low-latency communications and massive machine-type connectivity. Advances in fast-convolution filtering, asymmetric subcarrier profiles and mini-slot processing have demonstrated concrete gains in complexity, latency and out-of-band leakage. Together, these developments underpin the transition towards beyond-5G and 6G networks, where global deployments will require unified physical-layer designs capable of serving high-mobility scenarios, Internet-of-Things ecosystems and immersive applications with stringent spectral and energy constraints.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have introduced a non-orthogonal frequency shaping waveform that departs from classical Nyquist designs by employing a neural-network-based modulator to generate asymmetric subcarrier profiles. This approach compresses frequency resources beyond traditional limits, delivering up to 150 % improvement in spectral efficiency while retaining low receiver complexity. A proof-of-concept hardware link validated the design with real-time over-the-air image transmission, confirming that the new waveform can operate with simple receiver processing and substantial savings in spectrum for future 6G services.

Multicarrier Waveform Design for Next-Generation Wireless Communication Systems publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in multicarrier waveform design for next-generation wireless communication systems across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Multicarrier waveform: A transmission scheme that divides data across multiple orthogonal or non-orthogonal subcarriers to exploit frequency diversity.

Numerology: The set of waveform parameters—including subcarrier spacing, symbol duration and cyclic‐prefix length—that defines a multicarrier transmission format.

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA): A multiplexing strategy that allows overlap in power or code domains to support multiple users on the same time–frequency resource.

Fast convolution: An FFT-based technique that approximates linear filtering via circular convolutions, used for efficient subband filtering of multicarrier signals.

Spectral efficiency: The rate of information transfer per unit bandwidth, typically measured in bits per second per hertz (bit/s/Hz).

References

1. Identification and practical validation of spectrally efficient non-orthogonal frequency shaping waveform. Communications Engineering (2023).
2. Design and Performance Analysis of Multirate-NOMA. IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society (2024).
3. Frequency-Domain Signal Processing for Spectrally-Enhanced CP-OFDM Waveforms in 5G New Radio. IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications (2021).