In coherent detection, the receiver derives its demodulation frequency and phase references using a carrier synchronization loop. Such synchronization circuits may introduce phase ambiguity in the detected phase, which could lead to erroneous decisions in the demodulated bits. For example, Costas loop exhibits phase ambiguity of integral multiples of radians at the lock-in points. As a consequence, the carrier recovery may lock in radians out-of-phase thereby leading to a situation where all the detected bits are completely inverted when compared to the bits during perfect carrier synchronization. Phase ambiguity can be efficiently combated by applying differential encoding at the BPSK modulator input (Figure 1) and by performing differential decoding at the output of the coherent demodulator at the receiver side (Figure 2).
In ordinary BPSK transmission, the information is encoded as absolute phases: for binary 1 and for binary 0. With differential encoding, the information is encoded as the phase difference between two successive samples. Assuming is the message bit intended for transmission, the differential encoded output is given as
The differentially encoded bits are then BPSK modulated and transmitted. On the receiver side, the BPSK sequence is coherently detected and then decoded using a differential decoder. The differential decoding is mathematically represented as
This method can deal with the phase ambiguity introduced by synchronization circuits. However, it suffers from performance penalty due to the fact that the differential decoding produces wrong bits when: a) the preceding bit is in error and the present bit is not in error , or b) when the preceding bit is not in error and the present bit is in error. After differential decoding, the average bit error rate of coherently detected BPSK over AWGN channel is given by
Figure 2: Coherent detection of differentially encoded BPSK signal
Following is the Matlab implementation of the waveform simulation model for the method discussed above. Both the differential encoding and differential decoding blocks, illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, are linear time-invariant filters. The differential encoder is realized using IIR type digital filter and the differential decoder is realized as FIR filter.
File 1: dbpsk_coherent_detection.m: Coherent detection of D-BPSK over AWGN channel
Figure 3 shows the simulated BER points together with the theoretical BER curves for differentially encoded BPSK and the conventional coherently detected BPSK system over AWGN channel.
In this article, the relationship between SNR-per-bit (Eb/N0) and SNR-per-symbol (Es/N0) are defined with respect to M-ary signaling schemes. Then the complex baseband model for an AWGN channel is discussed, followed by the theoretical error rates of various modulations over the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. Finally, the complex baseband models for digital modulators and detectors developed in previous chapter of this book, are incorporated to build a complete communication system model.
Assuming a channel of bandwidth B, received signal power Pr and the power spectral density (PSD) of noise N0/2, the signal to noise ratio (SNR) is given by
Let a signal’s energy-per-bit is denoted as Eb and the energy-per-symbol as Es, then γb=Eb/N0and γs=Es/N0 are the SNR-per-bit and the SNR-per-symbol respectively.
For uncoded M-ary signaling scheme with k = log2(M) bits per symbol, the signal energy per modulated symbol is given by
The SNR per symbol is given by
AWGN channel model
In order to simulate a specific SNR point in performance simulations, the modulated signal from the transmitter needs to be added with random noise of specific strength. The strength of the generated noise depends on the desired SNR level which usually is an input in such simulations. In practice, SNRs are specified in dB. Given a specific SNR point for simulation, let’s see how we can simulate an AWGN channel that adds correct level of white noise to the transmitted symbols.
Figure 1: Simplified simulation model for awgn channel
Consider the AWGN channel model given in Figure 1. Given a specific SNR point to simulate, we wish to generate a white Gaussian noise vector of appropriate strength and add it to the incoming signal. The method described can be applied for both waveform simulations and the complex baseband simulations. In following text, the term SNR (γ) refers to γb = Eb/N0 when the modulation is of binary type (example: BPSK). For multilevel modulations such as QPSK and MQAM, the term SNR refers to γs = Es/N0.
(1) Assume, s is a vector that represents the transmitted signal. We wish to generate a vector r that represents the signal after passing through the AWGN channel. The amount of noise added by the AWGN channel is controlled by the given SNR – γ
(3) Let N denotes the length of the vector s. The signal power for the vector s can be measured as,
(4) The required power spectral density of the noise vector n is computed as
(5) Assuming complex IQ plane for all the digital modulations, the required noise variance (noise power) for generating Gaussian random noise is given by
(6) Generate the noise vector n drawn from normal distribution with mean set to zero and the standard deviation computed from the equation given above
(7) Finally add the generated noise vector (n) to the signal (s)
Matlab code
The following custom function written in Matlab, can be used for adding AWGN noise to an incoming signal. It can be used in waveform simulation as well as complex baseband simulation models.
%author - Mathuranathan Viswanathan (gaussianwaves.com
%This code is part of the books: Wireless communication systems using Matlab & Digital modulations using Matlab.
function [r,n,N0] = add_awgn_noise(s,SNRdB,L)
%Function to add AWGN to the given signal
%[r,n,N0]= add_awgn_noise(s,SNRdB) adds AWGN noise vector to signal
%'s' to generate a %resulting signal vector 'r' of specified SNR
%in dB. It also returns the noise vector 'n' that is added to the
%signal 's' and the spectral density N0 of noise added
%
%[r,n,N0]= add_awgn_noise(s,SNRdB,L) adds AWGN noise vector to
%signal 's' to generate a resulting signal vector 'r' of specified
%SNR in dB. The parameter 'L' specifies the oversampling ratio used
%in the system (for waveform simulation). It also returns the noise
%vector 'n' that is added to the signal 's' and the spectral
%density N0 of noise added
s_temp=s;
if iscolumn(s), s=s.'; end; %to return the result in same dim as 's'
gamma = 10ˆ(SNRdB/10); %SNR to linear scale
if nargin==2, L=1; end %if third argument is not given, set it to 1
if isvector(s),
P=L*sum(abs(s).ˆ2)/length(s);%Actual power in the vector
else %for multi-dimensional signals like MFSK
P=L*sum(sum(abs(s).ˆ2))/length(s); %if s is a matrix [MxN]
end
N0=P/gamma; %Find the noise spectral density
if(isreal(s)),
n = sqrt(N0/2)*randn(size(s));%computed noise
else
n = sqrt(N0/2)*(randn(size(s))+1i*randn(size(s)));%computed noise
end
r = s + n; %received signal
if iscolumn(s_temp), r=r.'; end;%return r in original format as s
end
Python code
The following custom function written in Python 3, can be used for adding AWGN noise to an incoming signal. It can be used in waveform simulation as well as complex baseband simulation models.
# author - Mathuranathan Viswanathan (gaussianwaves.com
# This code is part of the book Digital Modulations using Python
from numpy import sum,isrealobj,sqrt
from numpy.random import standard_normal
def awgn(s,SNRdB,L=1):
"""
AWGN channel
Add AWGN noise to input signal. The function adds AWGN noise vector to signal 's' to generate a resulting signal vector 'r' of specified SNR in dB. It also
returns the noise vector 'n' that is added to the signal 's' and the power spectral density N0 of noise added
Parameters:
s : input/transmitted signal vector
SNRdB : desired signal to noise ratio (expressed in dB) for the received signal
L : oversampling factor (applicable for waveform simulation) default L = 1.
Returns:
r : received signal vector (r=s+n)
"""
gamma = 10**(SNRdB/10) #SNR to linear scale
if s.ndim==1:# if s is single dimensional vector
P=L*sum(abs(s)**2)/len(s) #Actual power in the vector
else: # multi-dimensional signals like MFSK
P=L*sum(sum(abs(s)**2))/len(s) # if s is a matrix [MxN]
N0=P/gamma # Find the noise spectral density
if isrealobj(s):# check if input is real/complex object type
n = sqrt(N0/2)*standard_normal(s.shape) # computed noise
else:
n = sqrt(N0/2)*(standard_normal(s.shape)+1j*standard_normal(s.shape))
r = s + n # received signal
return r
Theoretical symbol error rates for digital modulations in AWGN channel
Denoting the symbol error rate (SER) as , SNR-per-bit as and SNR-per-symbol as , the symbol error rates for various modulation schemes over AWGN channel are listed in Table 1 (refer [1]).
Table 1: Theoretical symbol error rate for various modulations in AWGN channel
The theoretical symbol error rates are coded as a reusable function. In this implementation, erfc function is used instead of the Q function shown in the Table 4.1. The following equation describes the relationship between the erfc function and the Q function.
Unified simulation model for performance simulation
In the previous chapter of the books, the code implementation for complex baseband models for various digital modulators and demodulator are given. Using these models, we can create a unified simulation code for simulating the performance of various modulation techniques over AWGN channel.
The complete simulation model for performance simulation over AWGN channel is given in Figure 2. The figure is illustrated for a coherent communication system model (applicable for MPSK/MQAM/MPAM modulations)
Figure 2: Complete simulation model for a communication system with AWGN channel
The Matlab code implementing the aforementioned simulation model is given in the books. Here, an unified approach is employed to simulate the performance of any of the given modulation technique – MPSK, MQAM, MPAM or MFSK (MFSK simulation technique is available in the following books: Digital Modulations using Python and Digital Modulations using Matlab).
The simulation code will automatically choose the selected modulation type, performs Monte Carlo simulation, computes symbol error rates and plots them against the theoretical symbol error rates. The simulated performance results obtained for MQAM and MPSK modulations are shown in the Figure 3 and Figure 4.
Figure 3: Simulated symbol error rate performance of M-QAM modulation over AWGN channel
Power delay profile gives the signal power received on each multipath as a function of the propagation delays of the respective multipaths.
Power delay profile (PDP)
A multipath channel can be characterized in multiple ways for deterministic modeling and power delay profile (PDP) is one such measure. In a typical PDP plot, the signal power on each multipath is plotted against their respective propagation delays.
In a typical PDP plot, the signal power () of each multipath is plotted against their respective propagation delays (). A sample power delay profile plot, shown in Figure 1, indicates how a transmitted pulse gets received at the receiver with different signal strengths as it travels through a multipath channel with different propagation delays. PDP is usually supplied as a table of values, obtained from empirical data and it serves as a guidance to system design. Nevertheless, it is not an accurate representation of the real environment in which the mobile is destined to operate at.
Figure 1: A typical discrete power delay profile plot for a multipath channel with 3 paths
The PDP, when expressed as an intensity function , gives the signal intensity received over a multipath channel as a function of propagation delays. The PDP plots, like the one shown in Figure 1, can be obtained as the spatial average of the complex channel impulse response as
RMS delay spread and mean delay
The RMS delay spread and mean delay are two most important parameters that characterize a frequency selective channel. They are derived from power delay profile. The delay spread of a multipath channel at any time instant, is a measure of duration of time over which most of the symbol energy from the transmitter arrives the receiver.
In the wide-sense stationary uncorrelated scattering (WSSUS) channel models [1], the delays of received waves arriving at a receive antenna are treated as uncorrelated. Therefore, for the WSSUS model, the underlying complex process is assumed as zero-mean Gaussian random proces and hence the RMS value calculated from the normalized PDP corresponds to standard deviation of PDP distribution.
Figure 2: Relation between scattering function, power delay profile, Doppler power spectrum, spaced frequency correlation function and spaced time correlation function
For continuous PDP (as in Figure 2), the RMS delay spread () can be calculated as
where, the mean delay is given by
For discrete PDP (as in Figure 1), the RMS delay spread () can be calculated as
where, is the power of the path, is the delay of the path and the mean delay is given by
Knowledge of the delay spread is essential in system design for determining the trade-off between the symbol rate of the system and the complexity of the equalizers at the receiver. The ratio of RMS delay spread () and symbol time duration () quantifies the strength of intersymbol interference (ISI). Typically, when the symbol time period is greater than 10 times the RMS delay spread, no ISI equalizer is needed in the receiver. The RMS delay spread obtained from the PDP must be compared with the symbol duration to arrive at this conclusion.
Frequency selective and non-selective channels
With the power delay profile, one can classify a multipath channel into frequency selective or frequency non-selective category. The derived parameter, namely, the maximum excess delay together with the symbol time of each transmitted symbol, can be used to classify the channel into frequency selective or non-selective channel.
PDP can be used to estimate the average power of a multipath channel, measured from the first signal that strikes the receiver to the last signal whose power level is above certain threshold. This threshold is chosen based on receiver design specification and is dependent on receiver sensitivity and noise floor at the receiver.
Maximum excess delay, also called maximum delay spread, denoted as (), is the relative time difference between the first signal component arriving at the receiver to the last component whose power level is above some threshold. Maximum delay spread () and the symbol time period () can be used to classify a channel into frequency selective or non-selective category. This classification can also be done using coherence bandwidth (a derived parameter from spaced frequency correlation function which in turn is the frequency domain representation of power delay profile).
Maximum excess delay is also an important parameter in mobile positioning algorithm. The accuracy of such algorithm depends on how well the maximum excess delay parameter conforms with measurement results from actual environment. When a mobile channel is modeled as a FIR filter (tapped delay line implementation), as in CODIT channel model [2], the number of taps of the FIR filter is determined by the product of maximum excess delay and the system sampling rate. The cyclic prefix in a OFDM system is typically determined by the maximum excess delay or by the RMS delay spread of that environment [3].
A channel is classified as frequency selective, if the maximum excess delay is greater than the symbol time period, i.e, . This introduces intersymbol interference into the signal that is being transmitted, thereby distorting it. This occurs since the signal components (whose powers are above either a threshold or the maximum excess delay), due to multipath, extend beyond the symbol time. Intersymbol interference can be mitigated at the receiver by an equalizer.
In a frequency selective channel, the channel output can be expressed as the convolution of input signal and the channel impulse response , plus some noise .
On the other hand, if the maximum excess delay is less than the symbol time period, i.e, , the channel is classified as frequency non-selective or zero-meanchannel. Here, all the scattered signal components (whose powers are above either a specified threshold or the maximum excess delay) due to the multipath, arrive at the receiver within the symbol time. This will not introduce any ISI, but the received signal is distorted due to inherent channel effects like SNR condition. Equalizers in the receiver are not needed. A time varying non-frequency selective channel is obtained by assuming the impulse response . Thus the output of the channel can be expressed as
Therefore, for a frequency non-selective channel, the channel output can be expressed simply as product of time varying channel response and the input signal. If the channel impulse response is a deterministic constant, i.e, time invariant, then the non-frequency selective channel is expressed as follows by assuming
This is the simplest situation that can occur. In addition to that, if the noise in the above equation is white Gaussian noise, the channel is called additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel.
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Small-scale Models for Multipath Effects
● Introduction
● Statistical characteristics of multipath channels
□ Mutipath channel models
□ Scattering function
□ Power delay profile
□ Doppler power spectrum
□ Classification of small-scale fading
● Rayleigh and Rice processes
□ Probability density function of amplitude
□ Probability density function of frequency
● Modeling frequency flat channel
● Modeling frequency selective channel
□ Method of equal distances (MED) to model specified power delay profiles
□ Simulating a frequency selective channel using TDL model
A generic complex baseband simulation technique, to simulate all M-ary QAM modulation techniques is given here. The given simulation code is very generic, and it plots both simulated and theoretical symbol error rates for all M-QAM modulation techniques.
Rectangular QAM from PAM constellation
There exist other constellation shapes (like circular, triangular constellations) that are more efficient (in terms of energy required to achieve same the error probability) than the standard rectangular constellation. Rectangular (symmetric or square) constellations are the preferred choice of implementation due to its simplicity in implementing modulation and demodulation.
Any rectangular QAM constellation is equivalent to superimposing two Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK)signals (also called Pulse Amplitude Modulation – PAM) on quadrature carriers. For example, 16-QAM constellation points can be generated from two 4-PAM signals, similarly the 64-QAM constellation points can be generated from two 8-PAM signals.
Figure 1: Signal space constellations for 16-QAM and 64-QAM
The generic equation to generate PAM signals of dimension D is
For generating 16-QAM, the dimension D of PAM is set to . Thus for constructing a M-QAM constellation, the PAM dimension is set as . Matlab code for dynamically generating M-QAM constellation points based on Karnaugh map Gray code walk is given below. The resulting ideal constellations for Gray coded 16-QAM and 64-QAM are shown in Figure 1.
function [s,ref]=mqam_modulator(M,d)
%Function to MQAM modulate the vector of data symbols - d
%[s,ref]=mqam_modulator(M,d) modulates the symbols defined by the vector d
% using MQAM modulation, where M specifies order of M-QAM modulation and
% vector d contains symbols whose values range 1:M. The output s is modulated
% output and ref represents reference constellation that can be used in demod
if(((M˜=1) && ˜mod(floor(log2(M)),2))==0), %M not a even power of 2
error('Only Square MQAM supported. M must be even power of 2');
end
ref=constructQAM(M); %construct reference constellation
s=ref(d); %map information symbols to modulated symbols
end
class QAMModem(Modem):
# Derived class: QAMModem
def __init__(self,M):
if (M==1) or (np.mod(np.log2(M),2)!=0): # M not a even power of 2
raise ValueError('Only square MQAM supported. M must be even power of 2')
n = np.arange(0,M) # Sequential address from 0 to M-1 (1xM dimension)
a = np.asarray([xˆ(x>>1) for x in n]) #convert linear addresses to Gray code
D = np.sqrt(M).astype(int) #Dimension of K-Map - N x N matrix
a = np.reshape(a,(D,D)) # NxN gray coded matrix
oddRows=np.arange(start = 1, stop = D ,step=2) # identify alternate rows
nGray=np.reshape(a,(M)) # reshape to 1xM - Gray code walk on KMap
#Construction of ideal M-QAM constellation from sqrt(M)-PAM
(x,y)=np.divmod(nGray,D) #element-wise quotient and remainder
Ax=2*x+1-D # PAM Amplitudes 2d+1-D - real axis
Ay=2*y+1-D # PAM Amplitudes 2d+1-D - imag axis
constellation = Ax+1j*Ay
Modem.__init__(self, M, constellation, name='QAM') #set the modem attributes
Generally the two main categories of detection techniques, commonly applied for detecting the digitally modulated data are coherent detection and non-coherent detection.
In the vector simulation model for the coherent detection, the transmitter and receiver agree on the same reference constellation for modulating and demodulating the information. The modulators generate the reference constellation for the selected modulation type. The same reference constellation should be used if coherent detection is selected as the method of demodulating the received data vector.
On the other hand, in the non-coherent detection, the receiver is oblivious to the reference constellation used at the transmitter. The receiver uses methods like envelope detection to demodulate the data.
The IQ detection technique is an example of coherent detection. In the IQ detection technique, the first step is to compute the pair-wise Euclidean distance between the given two vectors – reference array and the received symbols corrupted with noise. Each symbol in the received symbol vector (represented on a p-dimensional plane) should be compared with every symbol in the reference array. Next, the symbols, from the reference array, that provide the minimum Euclidean distance are returned.
Let x=(x1,x2,…,xp) and y=(y1,y2,…,yp) be two points in p-dimensional space. The Euclidean distance between them is given by
The pair-wise Euclidean distance between two sets of vectors, say x and y, on a p-dimensional space, can be computed using the vectorized code. The vectorized code returns the ideal signaling points from matrix y that provides the minimum Euclidean distance. Since the vectorized implementation is devoid of nested for-loops, the program executes significantly faster for larger input matrices. The given code is very generic in the sense that it can be easily reused to implement optimum coherent receivers for any N-dimensional digital modulation technique (Please refer the books Digital Modulations using Matlab and Digital Modulations using Python for complete simulation code) .
function [dCap]= mqam_detector(M,r)
%Function to detect MQAM modulated symbols
%[dCap]= mqam_detector(M,r) detects the received MQAM signal points
%points - 'r'. M is the modulation level of MQAM
if(((M˜=1) && ˜mod(floor(log2(M)),2))==0), %M not a even power of 2
error('Only Square MQAM supported. M must be even power of 2');
end
ref=constructQAM(M); %reference constellation for MQAM
[˜,dCap]= iqOptDetector(r,ref); %IQ detection
end
The simulation results for error rate performance of M-QAM modulations over AWGN channel and Rician flat-fading channel is given in the following figures.
Figure 2: Error rate performance of M-QAM modulations in AWGN channel
A generic complex baseband simulation technique, to simulate all M-ary phase shift keying (M-PSK) modulation techniques is given here. The given simulation code is very generic, and it plots both simulated and theoretical symbol error rates for all MPSK modulation techniques.
M-ary phase shift keying (M-PSK) modulation
In phase shift keying, all the information gets encoded in the phase of the carrier signal. The M-PSK modulator transmits a series of information symbols drawn from the set m∈{1,2,…,M}. Each transmitted symbol holds k bits of information (k=log2(M)). The information symbols are modulated using M-PSK mapping.
Figure 1: Signal space constellations for various MPSK modulations
The general expression for a M-PSK signal set is given by
Here, M denotes the modulation order and it defines the number of constellation points in the reference constellation. The value of M depends on the parameter k – the number of bits we wish to squeeze in a single MPSK symbol. For example if we wish to squeeze in 3 bits (k=3) in one transmit symbol, then M = 2k = 23 = 8 and this results in 8-PSK configuration. M=2 gives binary phase shift keying (BPSK) configuration. The configuration with M=4 is referred as quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK). The parameter A is the amplitude scaling factor. Using trigonometric identity, equation (1) can be separated into cosine and sine basis functions as follows
This can be expressed as a combination of in-phase and quadrature phase components on an I-Q plane as
Normalizing the amplitude as , the points on the reference constellation will be placed on the unit circle. The MPSK modulator is constructed based on this equation and the ideal constellations for M=4,8 and 16 PSK modulations are shown in Figure 1.
function [s,ref]=mpsk_modulator(M,d)
%Function to MPSK modulate the vector of data symbols - d
%[s,ref]=mpsk_modulator(M,d) modulates the symbols defined by the
%vector d using MPSK modulation, where M specifies the order of
%M-PSK modulation and the vector d contains symbols whose values
%in the range 1:M. The output s is the modulated output and ref
%represents the reference constellation that can be used in demod
ref_i= 1/sqrt(2)*cos(((1:1:M)-1)/M*2*pi);
ref_q= 1/sqrt(2)*sin(((1:1:M)-1)/M*2*pi);
ref = ref_i+1i*ref_q;
s = ref(d); %M-PSK Mapping
end
Generally the two main categories of detection techniques, commonly applied for detecting the digitally modulated data are coherent detection and non-coherent detection.
In the vector simulation model for the coherent detection, the transmitter and receiver agree on the same reference constellation for modulating and demodulating the information. The modulators generate the reference constellation for the selected modulation type. The same reference constellation should be used if coherent detection is selected as the method of demodulating the received data vector.
On the other hand, in the non-coherent detection, the receiver is oblivious to the reference constellation used at the transmitter. The receiver uses methods like envelope detection to demodulate the data.
The IQ detection technique is an example of coherent detection. In the IQ detection technique, the first step is to compute the pair-wise Euclidean distance between the given two vectors – reference array and the received symbols corrupted with noise. Each symbol in the received symbol vector (represented on a p-dimensional plane) should be compared with every symbol in the reference array. Next, the symbols, from the reference array, that provide the minimum Euclidean distance are returned.
Let x=(x1,x2,…,xp) and y=(y1,y2,…,yp) be two points in p-dimensional space. The Euclidean distance between them is given by
The pair-wise Euclidean distance between two sets of vectors, say x and y, on a p-dimensional space, can be computed using the vectorized code. The vectorized code returns the ideal signaling points from matrix y that provides the minimum Euclidean distance. Since the vectorized implementation is devoid of nested for-loops, the program executes significantly faster for larger input matrices. The given code is very generic in the sense that it can be easily reused to implement optimum coherent receivers for any N-dimensional digital modulation technique (Please refer the books Digital Modulations using Matlab and Digital Modulations using Python for complete simulation code) .
function [dCap]= mpsk_detector(M,r)
%Function to detect MPSK modulated symbols
%[dCap]= mpsk_detector(M,r) detects the received MPSK signal points
%points - 'r'. M is the modulation level of MPSK
ref_i= 1/sqrt(2)*cos(((1:1:M)-1)/M*2*pi);
ref_q= 1/sqrt(2)*sin(((1:1:M)-1)/M*2*pi);
ref = ref_i+1i*ref_q; %reference constellation for MPSK
[˜,dCap]= iqOptDetector(r,ref); %IQ detection
end
The simulation results for error rate performance of M-PSK modulations over AWGN channel and Rayleigh flat-fading channel is given in the following figures.
Figure 2: Error rate performance of MPSK modulations in AWGN channel
Key focus: Derive BPSK BER (bit error rate) for optimum receiver in AWGN channel. Explained intuitively step by step.
BPSK modulation is the simplest of all the M-PSK techniques. An insight into the derivation of error rate performance of an optimum BPSK receiver is essential as it serves as a stepping stone to understand the derivation for other comparatively complex techniques like QPSK,8-PSK etc..
The ideal constellation diagram of a BPSK transmission (Figure 1) contains two constellation points located equidistant from the origin. Each constellation point is located at a distance from the origin, where Es is the BPSK symbol energy. Since the number of bits in a BPSK symbol is always one, the notations – symbol energy (Es) and bit energy (Eb) can be used interchangeably (Es=Eb).
Assume that the BPSK symbols are transmitted through an AWGN channel characterized by variance = N0/2 Watts. When 0 is transmitted, the received symbol is represented by a Gaussian random variable ‘r‘ with mean=S0 = and variance =N0/2. When 1 is transmitted, the received symbol is represented by a Gaussian random variable – r with mean=S1= and variance =N0/2. Hence the conditional density function of the BPSK symbol (Figure 2) is given by,
Figure 1: BPSK – ideal constellation
Figure 2: Probability density function (PDF) for BPSK Symbols
An optimum receiver for BPSK can be implemented using a correlation receiver or a matched filter receiver (Figure 3). Both these forms of implementations contain a decision making block that decides upon the bit/symbol that was transmitted based on the observed bits/symbols at its input.
Figure 3: Optimum Receiver for BPSK
When the BPSK symbols are transmitted over an AWGN channel, the symbols appears smeared/distorted in the constellation depending on the SNR condition of the channel. A matched filter or that was previously used to construct the BPSK symbols at the transmitter. This process of projection is illustrated in Figure 4. Since the assumed channel is of Gaussian nature, the continuous density function of the projected bits will follow a Gaussian distribution. This is illustrated in Figure 5.
Figure 4: Role of correlation/Matched Filter
After the signal points are projected on the basis function axis, a decision maker/comparator acts on those projected bits and decides on the fate of those bits based on the threshold set. For a BPSK receiver, if the a-prior probabilities of transmitted 0’s and 1’s are equal (P=0.5), then the decision boundary or threshold will pass through the origin. If the apriori probabilities are not equal, then the optimum threshold boundary will shift away from the origin.
Figure 5: Distribution of received symbols
Considering a binary symmetric channel, where the apriori probabilities of 0’s and 1’s are equal, the decision threshold can be conveniently set to T=0. The comparator, decides whether the projected symbols are falling in region A or region B (see Figure 4). If the symbols fall in region A, then it will decide that 1 was transmitted. It they fall in region B, the decision will be in favor of ‘0’.
For deriving the performance of the receiver, the decision process made by the comparator is applied to the underlying distribution model (Figure 5). The symbols projected on the axis will follow a Gaussian distribution. The threshold for decision is set to T=0. A received bit is in error, if the transmitted bit is ‘0’ & the decision output is ‘1’ and if the transmitted bit is ‘1’ & the decision output is ‘0’.
This is expressed in terms of probability of error as,
Or equivalently,
By applying Bayes Theorem↗, the above equation is expressed in terms of conditional probabilities as given below,
Since a-prior probabilities are equal P(0T)= P(1T) =0.5, the equation can be re-written as
Intuitively, the integrals represent the area of shaded curves as shown in Figure 6. From the previous article, we know that the area of the shaded region is given by Q function.
Figure 6a, 6b: Calculating Error Probability
Similarly,
From (4), (6), (7) and (8),
For BPSK, since Es=Eb, the probability of symbol error (Ps) and the probability of bit error (Pb) are same. Therefore, expressing the Ps and Pb in terms of Q function and also in terms of complementary error function :
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The phenomenon of Rayleigh Flat fading and its simulation using Clarke’s model and Young’s model were discussed in the previous posts. The performance (Eb/N0 Vs BER) of BPSK modulation (with coherent detection) over Rayleigh Fading channel and its comparison over AWGN channel is discussed in this post.
We first investigate the non-coherent detection of BPSK over Rayleigh Fading channel and then we move on to the coherent detection. For both the cases, we consider a simple flat fading Rayleigh channel (modeled as a – single tap filter – with complex impulse response – h). The channel also adds AWGN noise to the signal samples after it suffers from Rayleigh Fading.
The received signal y can be represented as
$$ y=hx+n $$
where n is the noise contributed by AWGN which is Gaussian distributed with zero mean and unit variance and h is the Rayleigh Fading response with zero mean and unit variance. (For a simple AWGN channel without Rayleigh Fading the received signal is represented as y=x+n).
Non-Coherent Detection:
In non-coherent detection, prior knowledge of the channel impulse response (“h” in this case) is not known at the receiver. Consider the BPSK signaling scheme with ‘x=+/- a’ being transmitted over such a channel as described above. This signaling scheme fails completely (in non coherent detection scheme), even in the absence of noise, since the phase of the received signal y is uniformly distributed between 0 and 2pi regardless of whether x[m]=+a or x[m]=-a is transmitted. So the non coherent detection of the BPSK signaling is not a suitable method of detection especially in a Fading environment.
Coherent Detection:
In coherent detection, the receiver has sufficient knowledge about the channel impulse response.Techniques like pilot transmissions are used to estimate the channel impulse response at the receiver, before the actual data transmission could begin. Lets consider that the channel impulse response estimate at receiver is known and is perfect & accurate.The transmitted symbols (‘x’) can be obtained from the received signal (‘y’) by the process of equalization as given below.
$$ \hat{y}=\frac{y}{h}=\frac{hx+n}{h}=x+z $$
here z is still an AWGN noise except for the scaling factor 1/h. Now the detection of x can be performed in a manner similar to the detection in AWGN channels.
The input binary bits to the BPSK modulation system are detected as
BPSK stands for Binary Phase Shift Keying. It is a type of modulation used in digital communication systems to transmit binary data over a communication channel.
In BPSK, the carrier signal is modulated by changing its phase by 180 degrees for each binary symbol. Specifically, a binary 0 is represented by a phase shift of 180 degrees, while a binary 1 is represented by no phase shift.
BPSK is a straightforward and effective modulation method and is frequently utilized in applications where the communication channel is susceptible to noise and interference. It is also utilized in different wireless communication systems like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and satellite communication.
Implementation details
Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) is a two phase modulation scheme, where the 0’s and 1’s in a binary message are represented by two different phase states in the carrier signal: \(\theta=0^{\circ}\) for binary 1 and \(\theta=180^{\circ}\) for binary 0.
In digital modulation techniques, a set of basis functions are chosen for a particular modulation scheme. Generally, the basis functions are orthogonal to each other. Basis functions can be derived using Gram Schmidt orthogonalizationprocedure [1]. Once the basis functions are chosen, any vector in the signal space can be represented as a linear combination of them. In BPSK, only one sinusoid is taken as the basis function. Modulation is achieved by varying the phase of the sinusoid depending on the message bits. Therefore, within a bit duration \(T_b\), the two different phase states of the carrier signal are represented as,
\begin{align*}
s_1(t) &= A_c\; cos\left(2 \pi f_c t \right), & 0 \leq t \leq T_b \quad \text{for binary 1}\\
s_0(t) &= A_c\; cos\left(2 \pi f_c t + \pi \right), & 0 \leq t \leq T_b \quad \text{for binary 0}
\end{align*}
where, \(A_c\) is the amplitude of the sinusoidal signal, \(f_c\) is the carrier frequency \(Hz\), \(t\) being the instantaneous time in seconds, \(T_b\) is the bit period in seconds. The signal \(s_0(t)\) stands for the carrier signal when information bit \(a_k=0\) was transmitted and the signal \(s_1(t)\) denotes the carrier signal when information bit \(a_k=1\) was transmitted.
The constellation diagram for BPSK (Figure 3 below) will show two constellation points, lying entirely on the x axis (inphase). It has no projection on the y axis (quadrature). This means that the BPSK modulated signal will have an in-phase component but no quadrature component. This is because it has only one basis function. It can be noted that the carrier phases are \(180^{\circ}\) apart and it has constant envelope. The carrier’s phase contains all the information that is being transmitted.
BPSK transmitter
A BPSK transmitter, shown in Figure 1, is implemented by coding the message bits using NRZ coding (\(1\) represented by positive voltage and \(0\) represented by negative voltage) and multiplying the output by a reference oscillator running at carrier frequency \(f_c\).
Figure 1: BPSK transmitter
The following function (bpsk_mod) implements a baseband BPSK transmitter according to Figure 1. The output of the function is in baseband and it can optionally be multiplied with the carrier frequency outside the function. In order to get nice continuous curves, the oversampling factor (\(L\)) in the simulation should be appropriately chosen. If a carrier signal is used, it is convenient to choose the oversampling factor as the ratio of sampling frequency (\(f_s\)) and the carrier frequency (\(f_c\)). The chosen sampling frequency must satisfy the Nyquist sampling theorem with respect to carrier frequency. For baseband waveform simulation, the oversampling factor can simply be chosen as the ratio of bit period (\(T_b\)) to the chosen sampling period (\(T_s\)), where the sampling period is sufficiently smaller than the bit period.
function [s_bb,t] = bpsk_mod(ak,L)
%Function to modulate an incoming binary stream using BPSK(baseband)
%ak - input binary data stream (0's and 1's) to modulate
%L - oversampling factor (Tb/Ts)
%s_bb - BPSK modulated signal(baseband)
%t - generated time base for the modulated signal
N = length(ak); %number of symbols
a = 2*ak-1; %BPSK modulation
ai=repmat(a,1,L).'; %bit stream at Tb baud with rect pulse shape
ai = ai(:).';%serialize
t=0:N*L-1; %time base
s_bb = ai;%BPSK modulated baseband signal
BPSK receiver
A correlation type coherent detector, shown in Figure 2, is used for receiver implementation. In coherent detection technique, the knowledge of the carrier frequency and phase must be known to the receiver. This can be achieved by using a Costas loop or a Phase Lock Loop (PLL) at the receiver. For simulation purposes, we simply assume that the carrier phase recovery was done and therefore we directly use the generated reference frequency at the receiver – \(cos( 2 \pi f_c t)\).
Figure 2: Coherent detection of BPSK (correlation type)
In the coherent receiver, the received signal is multiplied by a reference frequency signal from the carrier recovery blocks like PLL or Costas loop. Here, it is assumed that the PLL/Costas loop is present and the output is completely synchronized. The multiplied output is integrated over one bit period using an integrator. A threshold detector makes a decision on each integrated bit based on a threshold. Since, NRZ signaling format was used in the transmitter, the threshold for the detector would be set to \(0\). The function bpsk_demod, implements a baseband BPSK receiver according to Figure 2. To use this function in waveform simulation, first, the received waveform has to be downconverted to baseband, and then the function may be called.
function [ak_cap] = bpsk_demod(r_bb,L)
%Function to demodulate an BPSK(baseband) signal
%r_bb - received signal at the receiver front end (baseband)
%N - number of symbols transmitted
%L - oversampling factor (Tsym/Ts)
%ak_cap - detected binary stream
x=real(r_bb); %I arm
x = conv(x,ones(1,L));%integrate for L (Tb) duration
x = x(L:L:end);%I arm - sample at every L
ak_cap = (x > 0).'; %threshold detector
End-to-end simulation
The complete waveform simulation for the end-to-end transmission of information using BPSK modulation is given next. The simulation involves: generating random message bits, modulating them using BPSK modulation, addition of AWGN noise according to the chosen signal-to-noise ratio and demodulating the noisy signal using a coherent receiver. The topic of adding AWGN noise according to the chosen signal-to-noise ratio is discussed in section 4.1 in chapter 4. The resulting waveform plots are shown in the Figure 2.3. The performance simulation for the BPSK transmitter/receiver combination is also coded in the program shown next (see chapter 4 for more details on theoretical error rates).
The resulting performance curves will be same as the ones obtained using the complex baseband equivalent simulation technique in Figure 4.4 of chapter 4.
File 3: bpsk_wfm_sim.m: Waveform simulation for BPSK modulation and demodulation
Figure 3: (a) Baseband BPSK signal,(b) transmitted BPSK signal – with carrier, (c) constellation at transmitter and (d) received signal with AWGN noise
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