Performance Analysis of OCDM in ISAC Scenario

Abstract

The rapid evolution of communication systems, exemplified by the Internet of Things (IoT), demands increasingly stringent reliability in both communication and sensing. While Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) struggles to meet the challenges posed by complex scenarios, Orthogonal Chirp Division Multiplexing (OCDM) has gained attention for its robustness and spectral efficiency in Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) systems. However, its sensing mechanism remains insufficiently explored. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the communication and sensing performance of OCDM waveforms within the ISAC framework. Specifically, a closed-form BER expression under equalization is derived, alongside the ambiguity function and detection performance evaluation under matched filter (MF) and Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT) detectors with a constant false alarm rate (CFAR) criterion. Simulation results demonstrate that OCDM offers comparable sensing performance to OFDM while achieving superior communication robustness in complex environments.