D3.1: 5G Waveform Candidate Selection

A driver for new waveforms is to better enable multiple access in the light of the requirements of future 5G wireless communication systems. The scenarios, which initiate those requirements, considered by the 5GNOW project, are driven by machine-type communication and the tactile internet, by coordinated multi-point (CoMP) and by fragmented spectrum. 5G systems will have to handle a very diverse variety of traffic types. The 5GNOW project has developed the vision of a unified frame structure, which aims at handling as much different traffic types as possible within the same band and the same frame. The new waveforms discussed and introduced in this document have the potential to be much more capable than OFDM, when a relaxation of synchronicity and orthogonality requirements shall be supported. These relaxed requirements allow dropping a large amount of signalling overhead present in today's systems, when e.g. a large number of devices have to be supported. This document introduces promising waveform candidates for 5G systems, explains the considered reference scenarios and the corresponding multiple access vision. Supporting simulation results are provided, stressing the potential of the candidate technologies. Selection criteria for the waveforms are provided and discussed. Future work of the 5GNOW project will investigate those waveform candidates in detail and propose a physical layer concept for next generation wireless communication systems Based on the waveform candidates in IR3.1, D3.1 contains selection criteria, benchmarking results and discussion of chosen candidate selection for 5G waveforms.