Performance Study of OTFS Modulation in Mobility and Noisy Scenarios for 6G Communication Networks

Abstract

Orthogonal time–frequency space (OTFS) modulation emerges as a next-generation waveform addressing the limitations of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) in high-mobility and noisy environments, critical for future 6G networks. In the delay–Doppler domain, OTFS mitigates intersymbol interference (ISI) and intercarrier interference (ICI), ensuring robust performance in dynamic scenarios. This study provides a comprehensive evaluation of OTFS and investigates its performance compared to OFDM under varying SNR, UE speeds, different carrier frequencies, and channel models (TDLA, TDLB, EVA, EPA, and ETU), utilizing diverse modulation schemes (QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM, and 256QAM). Simulation results reveal OTFS achieves superior BER performance, particularly in high-mobility and multipath environments, while OFDM offers lower computational complexity. Despite OTFS's higher resource demands, its enhanced spectral efficiency and robustness make it a promising candidate for 6G applications, including vehicular networks, IoT, and UAVs. Future work should focus on adaptive algorithm development, energy-efficient designs, and machine learning integration to optimize OTFS for real-world deployment in ultrareliable, low-latency communication scenarios.