The University of British Columbia

Spectral efficiency presents the ultimate limit on data rate per unit bandwidth of a certain communication system. For direct-sequence code-division multiple access systems, the spectral efficiency has been derived in case of synchronous reception for optimal and linear multiuser receivers, flat-fading and nonfading environments, as well as single and multicell cellular networks. The most pervasive model employed in all these analyses is the large system random signature model. For the decision feedback receivers, previous research handled only the nonfading case while the case of fading channels remained unknown. This paper analyzes the spectral efficiency of the popular conventional decision feedback receiver (CDFR) in flat- and frequency-selective fading channels with and without power ordering. Results show that in the case of power ordering before cancellation and very large system loads, the spectral efficiency of this receiver in fading channels can be even larger than in the case of channels with no fading. We also discuss and identify optimal power control laws for the CDFR with and without power ordering. The power control law which equalizes single-user capacities in the case of power ordering is also discussed.