Before delving into the details of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), relevant
background material must be presented first. The purpose of this chapter is to provide the necessary
building blocks for the development of OFDM principles. Included in this chapter are reviews of stochastic
and random process, discrete-time signals and systems, and the Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT). Tooled
with the necessary mathematical foundation, we proceed with an overview of digital communication
systems and OFDM communication systems. We conclude the chapter with summaries of the OFDM
wireless LAN standards currently in existence and a high-level comparison of single carrier systems versus
OFDM.
