Doppler Estimation for OFDM based Aeronautical Data Communication

The frequency spectrum is deemed to be a valuable estate. Mobile users specifically the high-speed platforms are dependent on connectivity from satellite systems. Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in combination with dense encoding, offers a robust communication and spectrum compression. OFDM is sensitive to frequency shift. This results in intercarrier interference (ICI) and degrades bandwidth efficiency. High mobility platform, such as train and aircraft offer a challenging environment for increasing the spectral efficiency of the physical layer. This paper discusses the potential development of an Aeronautical Data Network (ADN) and its channel issues in particularly the high mobility and its effects of using an OFDM communication structure. OFDM ICI and frequency shift caused by the high mobility of the platform is investigated and potential methods are proposed.