| Aspect | 802.11a (WiFi) | CRT-OFDM |
|---|---|---|
| Bits per subcarrier | 0.50 (BPSK rate 1/2) | 1.54 (5-channel PSK over Z/210Z) |
| Spectral efficiency | Baseline | 3.08x higher |
| Error detection | None — Viterbi always outputs bits, CRC-32 adds overhead | Built-in — invalid CRT values (>210) flag errors for free |
| Channel fading | Entire signal degrades uniformly | Individual channels fade independently — 4 survive if 1 dies |
| Paradigm | Add redundancy to fight noise | Structure IS the code — arithmetic provides detection |
Source: demo_ofdm_vs_wifi.c, true_ofdm.c (fat channels: 420x capacity). Z/210Z = Z/2 x Z/3 x Z/5 x Z/7.