Block-Filtered OFDM: a novel waveform for future wireless technologies

The forthcoming fifth generation of mobile technology (5G) will be designed to satisfy the demands of 2020 and beyond. 5G does not just promise a huge increase in terms of data rates and capacity but it also targets new kind of use cases like Internet of Things or vehicular communications. The currently deployed 4G technology does not provide enough network capabilities to support this wide diversity of applications which has motivated the research on alternative waveforms. In this article, a new promising modulation scheme is introduced: Block-Filtered OFDM (BF-OFDM). The proposed waveform demonstrates an excellent frequency localization and can straightforwardly be integrated with the OFDM know-how and LTE principles. Besides, the proposed waveform relies on a receiver similar to the one used in CP-OFDM. BF-OFDM systems are also scalable, which is an interesting feature in order to steer the network capabilities on demand.