OFDM with cyclic prefix (CP-OFDM) in 5G

Why CP-OFDM Is the Foundation of 5G NR

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing splits a wideband channel into thousands of narrow, orthogonal subcarriers that each carry data independently. This approach makes the waveform inherently resistant to frequency-selective fading in challenging multipath environments. 5G NR adopted CP-OFDM for both the downlink and the uplink, departing from LTE which used SC-FDMA in the uplink. Unifying the waveform across both directions simplifies transceiver design, enables full uplink MIMO support, and allows the same signal processing chain for transmission and reception across all NR frequency…