Influence of transceiver imperfections to digital pre-distortion linearization — Application to 5G waveforms

In this paper, we present the quantitative study of the effects of the selected most important transceiver imperfections on the performance of digital baseband pre-distortion linearizers. Starting from the power amplifier model identification based on the measured data captured using the low-cost software defined radio platform (USRP), we evaluate the performance in term of out-of-band signal emissions at the power amplifier output for the case of typical representative of signals envisaged for fifth generation (5G) of mobile communication systems — filtered OFDM. The results are presented for the values of imperfections (IQ imbalances, DC offset) swept within the range of values corresponding to simple, commercially available wireless front-ends. We highlight the fact that the front-end imperfections can significantly affect the influence of pre-distorters.