In this contribution, we investigate the sensitivity of MC-CDMA systems to
synchronisation errors. We show that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the
MC-CDMA system at the input of the decision device in the presence of a ca
rrier frequency offset or a clock frequency offset is a rapidly decreasing
function of the number of carriers. For a maximal load, carrier phase jitte
r and timing jitter give rise to a degradation that is independent of the s
pectral content of the jitter; moreover, the degradation caused by carrier
phase jitter is independent of the number of carriers. A constant carrier p
hase offset and a constant timing offset cause no degradation of the MC-CDM
A system performance.