WLAN OFDM Basics and MATLAB Code Examples

This article provides a brief overview of WLAN (Wireless LAN) basics and links to relevant MATLAB code examples. WLAN technology is built upon a series of IEEE 802.11 standards, including 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.11ad, and more.

802.11a OFDM Physical Layer

This section focuses on the 802.11a standard’s OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) physical layer. You can find MATLAB and Simulink source code related to this below.

For a complete breakdown of the WLAN OFDM physical layer modules, you can refer to the 802.11a physical layer article (link available at the end). The Simulink model is based on a 64-point FFT. This FFT structure consists of:

  • 52 data carriers
  • 4 pilot carriers
  • 1 DC carrier
  • Guard carriers

You can download the Simulink model source code from the following link:

https://www.mathworks.in/matlabcentral/fileexchange/3540-ieee-802-11a-wlan-model

For a detailed explanation of the 802.11n physical layer transmitter modules, refer to the 802.11n physical layer article (link available at the end).

The 802.11n source code can be downloaded from:

https://www.mathworks.in/matlabcentral/fileexchange/26232-ieee-802-11n-wlan-file-update

WLAN OFDM MATLAB Model

The MATLAB source code for WLAN OFDM can be downloaded from:

https://wireless-matlab.sourceforge.net/