CHAPTER 5

MODULATION AND CODING

TRADE-OFFS

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING
 Goals of the
Communication System
Designer
Maximize the transmission bit rate, R.
Minimize the probability of bit error, Pb.
Minimize the required power or bit energy
to noise power spectral density, Eb/N0.
Minimize required system bandwidth, W.
Maximize system utilization to provide
reliable service for maximum no. of users
with min. delay & max. resistance to
interference.
Minimize system complexity, computational
load & system cost.
 Constraints & Theoretical
Limitation
Nyquist theoretical minimum
bandwidth requirement
Shannon-Hartley capacity theorem
Government regulations (e.g.
frequency allocations)
Technological limitations (e.g.
state-of the art components)
Other system requirements (e.g.
satellite orbits)
Introduction to M-ary Signaling

Binary keying produces two distinct

signals (symbols) that represent the 1s
and 0s in the message
In this case, the symbol rate is equal to
the bit rate of the data stream
If we could define a symbol that
represented two (or more) bits at a time,
we could improve the data throughput
For example, if each symbol stands for 2
bits, the throughput could be doubled.
We need four symbols to encode, 00,
01,10 and 11
 Introduction
(continued)
Ifwe wanted to triple the
throughput, we need symbols for the
combinations 000, 001, 010, 011,
100, 101, 110 and 111 a total of 8
symbols are required
Sounds like a good idea, but…..
As the number of symbols increases,
the penalty is more noise-related
errors can cause problems.
This general idea is referred to as M-
 M-ary Signaling
 It is relatively easy to create four unique
symbols:
◦ Four amplitude values (Quadrature ASK)
◦ Four phases values (Quadrature PSK)
◦ Four frequency values (Quadrature FSK)
 To produce more complex symbols, that
represent larger groups of bits, the amplitude,
phase or frequency of the carrier can be used
alone, or in combination with either a single
carrier or a coherent quadrature-carrier
arrangement.
 Known as M-ary signaling, each symbol
represents log2 M bits so that the bit rate is Rs
log2M
 M-ary System
Signaling systems that process k bits at a time.
M is the total number of signaling symbols.
Each symbol in an M-ary alphabet can be related
to a unique sequence of k bits,

Data rate R

 Tsis the symbol duration.

Effective time duration of each bit in terms of
symbol duration

Symbol rate, Rs,

Bandwidth efficiency
 Error Probability Plane

Fig. 9.1 (a) Orthogonal Fig. 9.1 (b) Multiphase

 Error Probability Plane –
About the Graphs
Fig9.1 (a) illustrates the potential bit-error
improvement with orthogonal signaling as k
(or M) is increased. Increasing the size of
symbol set will provide improvement in Pb, or
a reduction in the Eb/N0, but at the cost of
increased bandwidth (W).
Fig. 9.1 (b) illustrates potential bit error
degradation with non-orthogonal signaling as
k (or M) increases. Increasing the size of
symbol set can reduce the bandwidth
requirement, but at the cost of a degraded Pb,
or an increased Eb/N0 requirement
 Error Probability Plane –
The Trade-Offs
Trade-offs are seen as changes in operating point in
the direction shown by the arrows.
Line 1- between points a and b : Trading off
between Pb and Eb/N0 performance (fixed W)
Line 2 – between points c and d : Trading off
between Pb and W (fixed Eb/N0)
Line 3 – between points e and f : Trading off between
W and Eb/N0 (fixed Pb)
Trade off in Line 1 easy to achieve by simply “turning
a knob” even after the system is configured.
Trade off in Line 2 & 3 more difficult to achieve –
involve some changes in the system modulation or
coding scheme – need to be done during system
design phase.
 Example From Fig. 9.1
1. Does error-performance improve or degrade with
increasing M, for M-ary signaling?
Depend on the class of signaling. Orthogonal signaling in
Fig 9.1(a), error performance improve with increment of k
or M. Refer to vertical and horizontal line comparison.
Vertical line: k increased, Pb decreased (fixed Eb/N0).
Horizontal line: k or M increased, Eb/N0 decreased (fixed
Pb)
2. The choices available in digital communications almost
always involves a tradeoff. If error-performance
improves, what price must we pay?
For orthogonal signaling (MFSK), as k or M increased, the
required bandwidth also increased (trade off). Example:
When k = 2 and M = 4, there are four tones in the set.
When k = 3 and M = 8, there are eight tones, and so forth.
With MFSK, only one tone is sent during each symbol time,
but the available transmission bandwidth consists of the
entire set of tones. For non-orthogonal signaling (MPSK,
3. If error-performance degrades, what benefit is
exhibited?
For non-orthogonal signaling the benefit would
be a reduction in bandwidth.
 Nyquist Minimum
 Every
Bandwidth
real system having non-ideal filtering will
suffer inter-symbol interference (ISI) – the tail of
one pulse spilling over into adjacent symbol
intervals so as to interfere with correct
detection.
 Nyquist theoretical minimum bandwidth
(Nyquist bandwidth) for the baseband
transmission of Rs symbols per second without
ISI is Rs/2 hertz.
 For M-ary signaling, where no. of bit per symbol,
R R
R  kR
k = log2M, the   be k times faster
or RRs must
bits rate
k log 2 M
than Rs

 When k increased, bit rate R increased too. In

 Shannon-Hartley Capacity
Theorem
 Capacity,C, of a channel perturbed by AWGN is
a function of average received signal power S,
the average noise power N and the bandwidth
W.  S 
C  W log 2 1  
 N
where N  N 0W , therefore
C  S 
 log 2 1  
W  N 0W 

 The equations set a limit on transmission rate,

not on error probability.
 It is theoretically possible to transmit
information over a channel at any rate R,
where R ≤ C, with arbitrarily small error
probability by using a sufficiently complicated
 Eb S W 
  
N0 N  R 
S W 
  
N 0W  R 
S Eb  R 
  
N 0W N0  W 

When the transmission bit rate equal

to channel capacity, R=C

C  Eb  C 
 log 2 1   
W  N 0  W 
C Eb  C 
2 W
 1  
N0  W 
Eb W  C W
  2  1
N0 C  
Shannon Limit
 Minimum value for Eb/N0: - No error
free communication at any
information rate.
 It not possible in practice to reach
Shannon limit, because as k increase
without bound, k∞, the BW
requirement and implementation
complexity also
Eb increase
C without
Let x 
bound.  
N0  W 
C
 x log 2 1  x  x
1

W
E
1  b log 2 1  x  x
1

N0
using the identity : lim 1  x 
1
x e
x 0

when C  0, we get
W
Eb 1
  0.693  1.6dB
N 0 log 2 e
 Entropy
 The average amount of
information per source output
H  i 1 pi log 2 pi
n
bits/ source output

 The unit bit is a measure of

information content and not to
be confused with the term “bit” of
binary digit.
 For the information source with
two equally likely possibilities
(e.g. the flipping of a fair coin),
the average information content is
max. As the uncertainty
probabilities increased, H
decreased. Similarly when the
 Example 2:
1. Calculate the average information in bit/character for
the English language, assuming that each of the 26
characters in alphabet occurs with equal likelihood.
Neglect the spaces & punctuation.
Solution:

2. Repeat (1.) under the assumption that the alphabetic

characters occur with the following probabilities.

Solution:
 Equivocation & Effective
Transmission Rate
 Equivocationis defined as the conditional
entropy of message X being sent, having
received Y.

where X is the transmitted source message, Y is

the received signal, P(X,Y) is the joint probability
of X and Y, and P(X|Y) is the conditional
probability of X given Y.
 For error-free channel, H(X|Y)=0, because
having received Y, there is complete certainty
about the message X. However, for non error-
free channel H(X|Y)>0 because the channel
 Example 3
 Consider a binary sequence, X, where the
source probabilities are P(X=1)=P(X=0)=1/2
and where on the average, the channel
produces one error in a received 100 bits
(PB=0.01). The Equivocation H(X|Y) is
expressed as
H(X|Y) = - [(1-PB) log2 (1-PB) + PB log2 PB]
= - (0.99 log2 0.99 + 0.11 log2 0.01)
= 0.081 bit/received symbol
Thus the channel produce 0.081 bit of uncertainty
to each received symbol.
 Example 3 ( continued..)
 Shannon showed that the average effective
information content Heff at the receiver is obtained
by subtracting the equivocation from the entropy
source.
Hef = H(X) – H(X|Y)
For a system transmitting equally likely binary
symbols, the entropy H(X) is 1 bit/symbol. When the
symbol received with P =0.081 bit/received symbol,
B

the effective entropy.

Hef = 1-0.081 = 0.919 bit/received symbol
If R= 1000 binary symbols transmitted per second,
the effective information bit rate,
Reff =RHeff
= 1000 symbols / s X 0.919 bit/symbol
Notice that in extreme case, where PB =0.5,
H(X|Y)= - (0.5 log2 0.5 + 0.5 log2 0.5) =
Bandwidth Efficiency Plane
 BW efficiency plane – relationship
between R/W versus Eb/N0.
 R/W is a measure of how much
data can be communicated in a
specified bandwidth within a given
time.
 R=C curve boundary separate a
region of practical communication
from a region where
communication is theoretically
impossible.
 MPSK & QAM signaling: R/W = log2
M - Increasing M will increase
bandwidth efficiency (require less
bandwidth).
 MFSK signaling: R/W = (log2M)/M;-
increasing M will decrease
bandwidth efficiency (require more
Modulation & Coding Trade-Offs
 Graph (a) – error probability
plane (useful reference in
designing “power limited
system”)
 Graph (b) – bandwidth
efficiency plane (useful
reference in designing
“bandwidth limited
system”).
 Parameters involved for
trade-off are PB, W, R/W and
P (power or SNR)
 Modulation types involved
are orthogonal & non-
orthogonal signaling.
 G = “Gain or achieved”,
 C = “Cost or expended”
Defining, Designing and
Evaluating Digital
Communication System
 Digital comm. system design need information
on:
1. Channel (received power, available bandwidth, noise
statistics & other impairments such as fading)
2. System requirement (data rate & error performance)
 The term “coded”(or uncoded) system refers to
the presence (absence) of error correction
coding scheme.
 Primary comm. resources are received power
(Pr) and available transmission bandwidth (W).
 System classification:- bandwidth limited
system and power limited system.
 Bandwidth limited system – spectrally efficient
modulation techniques (MPSK & MQAM) can be
used to save W at the expense of power.
 Power limited system – power efficient
 Bandwidth Limited System
 Any digital communication system will become
bandwidth efficient as its WTb product is
decreased.
 Signals with Small w are often used with
bandwidth limited systems like GSM with the
0.3 Hz/bits/s.
 For the un coded bandwidth limited systems,
the objective is to maximize the transmitted
information rate within the 1
W  allowable
 Rs
T
bandwidth, at the expense ofs Eb/N0
 For MPSK, the required double-sideband (DSB)
R
bandwidth related to symbol  log 2 M (R
rate bits/)s -/ Hz
W
 The efficiency of MPSK modulated signals using
Nyquist filtering can be expressed as
 Power Limited System
 Power is scarce but system bandwidth is
available.
 Trade offs
◦ improved PB with the expense of bandwidth
for a fixed Eb/N0
◦ Reduction of Eb/N0 at expense of bandwidth
for fixed PB
 A natural modulation choice for a power
limited system is M-ary (MFSK). The minimum
requirement bandwidth is

• Since there are M-different orthogonal

waveforms, each requiring bandwidth of Ts,
 Requirement for MPSK and MFSK
Signaling
 The basic relation between the symbol
transmission rate Rs and the data rate (bit rate)
R is

 Table9.1 shows the required values of Eb/N0 to

achieve PB 10-5 for MPSK and MFSK for each
value of M. As M increases, MPSK signaling
provides more bandwidth efficiency at the cost
of Eb/N0 while MFSK signaling reduces Eb/N0 at
the cost of increased bandwidth.
 Bandwidth Limited Uncoded System
Example
From Sklar Book: Page 543, Topic 9.75
 Given a bandwidth limited AWGN radio channel
with and available bandwidth W = 4000Hz
Pr
 53 dB  Hz
N0

 The required data rate =9600bits/s.

 Bit error performance = 10-5
 Goal => To choose the modulation scheme that
meets the required performance.
 For any digital communication system, the
relationship between received power to noise
power spectral density (Pr/N0)and received
Pr power
bit energy to noise E Es
 b R spectral
Rs density (Eb/N0)
N0 N0 N0
is
 Solution….
 Solving Eb/N0 in decibel, we obtain

 Since the required data rate of 9600 bits/s is

much larger than the available band 4000Hz,
the channel can be described as bandwidth
limited. Therefore, MPSK modulation scheme is
selected for bandwidth efficiency.
 Next, compute the smallest possible value of M
with symbol rate at most equal to available
bandwidth. Based on Table 9.1, value of M = 8
 Next, check whether PB =10-5 can be met by
using 8-PSK alone without need to use error-
correction coding scheme. Based on Table 9.1,
8-PSK alone is enough because the listed Eb/N0
Solution…. manual
calculation
Step 1: Guess the possible modulation type based given
parameters (either bandwidth limited or power limited).
Since R > W, it is bandwidth limited system. Choose MPSK.
R
 Step 2: Choose the smallest possible logof M;  Rs  W
2 M
; M=8
 Step 3: Find the received bit energy to noise power
spectral density (Eb/N0) from the received power to noise
spectral density (Pr/N0). = 20.89 = 13.2 dB
Es
Step 4: Find the  Eb 
symbol
  log 
2 M 
  3energy to
 20.89  62.67noise power spectral
 17.97 dB
N0 N
 0
density

 2 Es   
PE ( M )  2Q  sin  
 Step 5: Find the probability N 0 of symbol
 M  error PE(M) 1  x2 
Q( x )  exp  
 2Q ( 4.2843) x 2  2 
 2  9.6  10 6
 1.924  10 5
 Step 6: find the probability of bit error
PE
PB  ( for PE  1)
log 2 M
1.924 10 5

3
 6.4143 10 6

 The calculated PB is less than 10-5 which meets the

system requirement. Therefore 8-PSK is the correct
modulation scheme for this system.
Power Limited Uncoded System Example

From Sklar Book: Page 545, Topic

9.76

The required data rate =9600bits/s

Bit error performance = 10-5
available bandwidth W = 45kHz
Received power to noise spectral
density Pr/N0= 48dB-Hz.
Goal => To choose the modulation
scheme that meets the required
performance
 Solution…
 The received Eb/N0 is found to be

 Since there is abundant bandwidth but a

relatively small amount of Eb/N0
 This channel may be referred as power limited.
 Thus MFSK as modulation scheme is chosen.
 Next largest value of M is selected such that
R
MR  M W
MFSK minimum bandwidth is not expanded;
s
log M
2

 M=16 is selected.
 From Table 9.1, the required Eb/N0 (8.1dB) in
PB=10-5 is less than the calculated system Eb/N0
(8.2 dB).
Solution…. manual calculation
 Step 1: Guess the possible modulation type based given
parameters (either bandwidth limited or power limited).
Since R > W, it is bandwidth limited system. Choose MFSK.
R
 Step 2: Choose the largest MR  M
possible of M;
s W
log 2 M
; M = 16
 Step 3: Find the received bit energy to noise power
spectral density (Eb/N0) from the received power to noise
spectral density (Pr/N0). = 6.61 = 8.2 dB
 Step 4: Find
Es the symbol E  energy to noise power spectral
 log 2 M   b   4  6.61  26.44  14.22dB
density N 0  N0 

M 1  1 Es 
PE ( M )  exp  
 Step 5: Find the probability
2  of0 symbol
2 N error PE(M)
 7.5 exp(13.22)
 1.36  10 5
Step 6: find the probability of bit error
 2 k 1 
Pb   k  PE
 2 1 
 23 
  4  1.36  10 5
 2 1 
 7.25  10 6

The calculated PB is less than 10-5 which

meets the system requirement. Therefore
16-FSK is the correct modulation scheme
for this system
Band Limited and Power Limited
Coded System Example

Sklar Book: Topic 9.7.7, page 547

Given a system requirement as follows:
Bandwidth, W = 4000Hz
Received Power to Noise spectral density,
Pr/N0 = 53 dB-Hz
The required data rate R = 9600bits/s
Bit error probability must be at most = 10-
9

Determine the suitable modulation type

parameters & whether the system require
error-correction coding
Solution….(1)
 The available bandwidth is 4000 Hz &
the calculated Eb/N0=13.2dB.
 System is both bandwidth limited and
power limited.
 8-PSK is the possible choice for
bandwidth constraint but Eb/N0=13.2dB
is insufficient to meet the required bit
error probability of 10-9
 We need to consider the performance
improvement by error correcting code
(within the available bandwidth)
 Convolution Code or Block Codes can be
used.
 Table 9.2 presents a partial catalog for
the available BCH codes in terms of n, k
and t. (k = data bit; n = channel bits or
channel symbol; t = max incorrect
 Solution…. (2)
 Start with same 8-PSK in order to meet the
stated bandwidth constraint.
 Additionally, error correction code is employed
so that the bit error probability can be lowered
to 10-9
 To make the optimum code selection from the
code table we are guided by following goals
◦ The output bit error probability of the combined
modulation/coding system must meet the system error
requirement.
◦ The rate of code must not expand the required
transmission bandwidth beyond the available channel
bandwidth.
◦ The code should be as simple as possible. Generally,
the shorter the code the simpler will be its
implementation.
 Solution…. (3)
 Eliminate
the candidates from table below that
would expand the bandwidth more than 25%
Coding Gain, G
(dB) with MPSK
PB=10- PB=10-
n k t k/n n/k 5 9

0.838 1.19
31 26 1 1.8 2.0
7 2
0.904 1.10
63 57 1 1.8 2.2
8 52
0.809 1.23
51 2 2.6 3.2
5 53
0.944 1.05
127 120 1 1.7 2.2
9 83
0..834 1.12
113 2 2.6 3.4
6 39
0.834 1.19
106 3 3.1 4.0
6 81
Solution… (4)
 Figure 9.9 shows the digital
system,
modulator/demodulator
(MODEM) and coding.
 It shows the relationship when
transforming from R bit/s to Rc
channel-bit/s to Rs symbol/s.
 We assumed that it is a real-
time system and cannot
tolerate message delay.
Therefore, Rc must exceed R
by factor of n/k and Rs is less
than Rc by factor of log2 M.
 The channel bit energy to
noise spectral density Ec/N0 is
less than Eb/N0 by factor of k/n
 Solution… (5)
 Code selection: Choose the code with smallest
possible of code rate (k/n) and the smallest
value of n (choose (63,51)).

There are 4 steps in determining the best

modulation type & coding choice which are as
follows
Es  k  Eb  51 
 Step 1: Find the
log 2 M
E /N
    3     20.89  50.73
N 0
s  n 0 N  63 
0

M=8, Eb/N0= 20.89=13.2 dB (from previous

 2E       
Pcalculation)
E ( M )  2Q 
s 4
sin    2Q  101.5  Sin    2Q(3.86)  1.202  10
0 N  M    8 
 Step 2: Find the probability of symbol error PE(M)
1 2
 x 
Q( x)  exp  
x 2  2 
 Solution… (6)
 Step 3: Find the channel bit error probability
(Pc). PE 1.202 10 4
Pc    4 10 5
log 2 M 3

n j
 Step 4: Find 1 the
n
decoded
n j bit error probability
Pb 
n
 j 
 j pc 1  p c 
j  t 1  
(PB)
3  63 

63 
 
3

 4  
10 5 3
1  4 10  5 60

 
4  63 
63 
 
4

 4  
10 5 4
1  4 10  5 59
 .......
 
 1.2  10 10

 The value is less than the required PB=10-9. The

8-PSK & (63,51) BCH code is the correct choice.
 Then Calculate R =(n/k)R =
 Bandwidth Efficient
modulation
 Objective: To maximize bandwidth efficiency
(R/W) and improve the frequency spectral
congestion problem.
 Bandwidth efficient modulation type:
◦ Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)
◦ Offset Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (OQPSK)
◦ Minimum Shift Keying (MSK)
◦ Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)

 QAM is both analog and digital modulation

scheme. It conveys 2 digital bit streams, by
changing (modulating) the amplitudes of 2
carrier waves, using amplitude shift keying
(ASK) digital modulation scheme or
 QAM Modulation

 Figure (a)- two dimensional signal space and a set of 16-

ary QAM signal vectors or points arranged in a
rectangular constellation. The points are QAM symbol
waveforms points which represent digital bit stream from
000 to 1111. By convention, the signal points are
grouped about the center of the space at amplitudes ±1,
±3, …. ±(2k-1)
 Figure (b) – Typical QAM modulator block diagram at
transmitter. QAM consists of 2 independently amplitude-
modulated carriers in quadrature. At the receiver, each of
QAM Probability of Bit Error (P B)
 Fora rectangular constellation, a Gaussian
channel and matched filter reception, the bit-
error probability for M-QAM, where M=2k and k
is even is
Pb 
 
2 1  L1   3 log 2 L  2 Eb 
Q  2  
log 2 L   L  1  N 0 

L M
 Where Q(x) is the complementary error
function, is the
number of amplitude levels in one dimension.
 QAM is more bandwidth efficient (in
exchange for Eb/N0) compared to M-PSK. (see
figure 9.6 – bandwidth efficiency plane).
Example 9.5… QAM Waveform Design
 Trellis Coded
Modulation (TCM)
Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM)
 TCM achieved error-performance improvements
without expansion of signal bandwidth (trade-off
with decoder complexity).
 TCM combines multilevel/phase modulation &
coding schemes.
 Used the concept of finite state machine (at
encoder) for encoding process of the modulated
waveforms.
 Finite state machine refers to a device which has
memory of past signals using finite number of
unique states that the machine can encounter.
The state consists of smallest amount of
information that together with current input to
the machine can predict the possible output. A
future state is restricted by the past state. State
Trellis Coded Modulation (TCM)
 TCM is bandwidth efficient modulation
which accomplishes this by the use of
convolutional coding.
 TCM achieved error-performance improvements
without expansion of signal bandwidth (trade-
off with decoder complexity).
 Conserve bandwidth by doubling the number
of constellation points of signal. This will
increase bit rate but symbol rate stays the
same.
 Convolutional coding constraints allowed
symbol transitions, creating sequence coding
(concept of finite state machine).
 Unlike a true Convolutional coding, not all
 Increasing the constellation size reduces
Euclidean distances between the
constellation points but sequence coding offers
a coding gain that overcomes the power
disadvantage of going to the higher
constellation.
 Performance is measured by coding gain over
an uncoded signal.
 The decoding metric is Euclidean distance
and not hamming distance.
 Ungerboeck proposed TCM which used set-
partitioning and small number of states with
code rates that varied with the input signal
type.
 The constellation mapping in set partitioning
 Increasing Signal
Redundancy
 TCM may be implemented with a convolutional
encoder, where k current bits and K-1 prior bits
are used to produce n=k+1 code bit (K =
encoder constraint length)
 Coding gain can be accomplished by encoding
with a rate k/(k+1) convolutional code and
then mapping groups of (k+1) into the set of
2k+1 waveforms.
 In an uncoded systems, such a reduced
distance in constellation set waveforms
degrades error performance.
 However in TCM, the free distance, which is
the minimum distance between members of the
set of allowed code sequences, determines the
TCM Block Diagram
 TCM Encoding
 In order, to maximize the free Euclidean
Distance (ED), the code-to-signal mapping is
done by partitioning the modulation-signal
constellation into subsets with increasing
minimum distance d0<d1<d2 … between the
element of the subset.
 Figure 9.22 – 8-PSK signal set constellation.
Individual signals are numbered sequentially
from 0 to 7. The distance between any two
adjacent signals, d0 is 2 sin (π/8)=0.765.
 The 1st level partitioning results in subsets B0
and B1, where the distance between adjacent
signals is d1=√2. The next level of partitioning
results in subsets C0 to C3 with distance
between adjacent signals is d2=2.
 Thechoice of a unit circle for both coded and
uncoded systems meant that the average
signal power was the same for both sets.
Mapping of waveforms to Trellis Transition

The rule for forming the trellis structure and for

partitioning the waveform set can be summarize as
follows:
1. If k bits are to be encoded per modulation interval,
the trellis must allow 2k possible transition from
each state to a successor state.
2. More than 1 transition may occur between pair of
states.
3. All waveforms should occur with equal frequency
and with a fair amount of regularity and symmetry.
4. Transition originating from the same state are
assigned waveforms either from subset B0 or B1-
never a mixture between them.
5. Transition joining into the same state are assigned
waveforms either from subset B0 or B1 – never a
mixture between them.
 Fig. 9.24 shows the 4-state trellis transition diagram for 8-
PSK.
 The waveform assignments comply rule no. 1 –> 2k
transitions into & out of each state.
 Comply with rule no. 6 – parallel pair of transitions have
been assigned waveforms from subset C0 or C1 or C2 or C3.
 Comply with rules 4 and 5 because 4 branches leaving (or
entering a state have been assigned waveforms from
subset B0 or B1.
 We can refer to the states in terms or signal subsets C 0C1
state or C2C3 state and so forth, or in terms of waveform
numbers like 0426 state, or 1537 state and so forth.
TCM Decoding – Error Event & Free
Distance
 The convolutional decoder estimates the path
that the message had traversed through the
encoding trellis.
 It compares the conditional probabilities P(Z|
U(m)) where Z is the received sequence of
waveforms and U(m) is one of the possible
transmitted sequence. Choose the maximum
probabilities, equal to finding shortest distance
through trellis diagram (maximum likelihood).
 Fig 9.25:- Assuming that the all-zero sequence
(select as reference) is transmitted, an error is
identified as a divergence from the all-zero path
followed by a remergence with the all-zero
path.
 An error event occurs whenever the received
 Codes for multilevel/phase signals should be
designed to achieve maximum free Euclidean
distance (ED); the larger the ED, the lower the
probability of error.
 Coding Gain
 Ifdref is the minimum ED of an uncoded
modulation scheme operating with the same
energy per bit as that of TCM coded scheme,
then the asymptotic coding gain of TCM is

df is the free ED of coded system

 Uncoded QPSK can be regarded as the reference
uncoded modulation scheme for calculating ED
of 8-PSK
 The minimum ED of uncoded QPSK, operating
with same energy per bit is equal to dref =√2
 Theequation summarize the primary goal of
TCM:- To achieve a free distance that exceeds
 In order to find the minimum ED, firstly choose
the all-zero sequence as test reference of correct
path.
 Then examine every possible divergence-from
and remergence-to correct path, and find the
one with the minimum ED from the correct path.
 From fig 9.24, the first candidate labeled with
waveforms 2,1,2. Find the sum individual
squared distance from the all zero path
(waveform 2 from 0, waveform 1 from 0 and
d 2  d12  d 02  d12  2  0.585  2  4.585; d  4.585  2.2
waveform 2 from 0)

 The 2nd candidate is the darkened error event

(labeled waveform 4). It is still a
divergence/remergence path, even though it
 The distance of waveform 4 to 0 is smaller than
any other potential error event which is d = 2.
 Therefore, the minimum ED for coded 8-PSK is
df = 2. the minimum ED for the uncoded
reference signal set (QPSK) as in Fig 9.23 if dref
= √2.
 The asymptotic coding  d gain of
  10 log  4TCM is
2

G (dB )  10 log 
f
10 d 2  10   3dB
 ref  2
 TCM Example (Topic
9.10.5)
Consider an encoder that uses a rate 2/3
convolutional code to transmit 2 information bit
per modulation interval. A candidate encoder is
shown in Figure 9.29. The rate 2/3 is accomplish
by transmitting one bit from each pair of bits in
the input sequence unmodified, and encoding
the other bit into 2 code bits using a rate ½,
constraint length K=3 encoder. Assumed that 8-
PAM modulation is used with TCM and 4-PAM as
the uncoded reference set.
 Solutions…

 The trellis diagram in Fig 9.30 describe the

encoder circuit in Fig 9.29. The state names
were chosen to correspond to the contents of
rightmost K-1=2 stages in the shift register. The
parallel transitions are due to uncoded bit
Code-to-signal mapping
Output at
State at time Input Register State at time t Waveform
ti m1 m 2 Content time ti+1 i
No.
u 1 u 2 u3

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 2
0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4
1 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 6
0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 1
0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 3
1 0
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 5
1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 7
0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 2
0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
0 1
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 6
1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 4
0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 3
0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1
1 1
1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 7
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 5
 Solutions…continued

 Fig9.31(a) shows the 8-PAM coded signal set

with ED of each signal from the center of signal
space. Fig. 9.31 (b) shows the 4-PAM reference
set.
Solutions…continued
 The assignments of 8-
Pam waveforms to the
trellis transitions is based
on Ungerboeck
partitioning rules shown
in Fig. 9.32.
 The most desperate
waveform pairs (d2=8)
have been assigned to
the most vulnerable error
events – the parallel
transition.
 The next most distance
(d1=4 waveforms have
 Solutions…continued
 Theerror event path in Fig. 9.24 labeled with
waveform 2,1,2 is also the minimum distance
path for 8-PAM. The minimum free distance df
is d 2f  d12  d 02  d12  16  4  16  36; d f  6

 The parallel path (d = 8) is not the minimum

distance error path as it was for the 8-PSK. The
reference distance is based on uncoded 4-PAM
in Fig. 9.31 (b), dref = 2.
 In
order to compute the asymptotic coding
gain, it is important to ensure that the average
power of the coded and uncoded signals sets
are the same. The 8-PAM and 4-PAM
constellation sets do not have the same
average symbol energy as the previous 8-PSK
 Solutions…continued
 The previous asymptotic coding gain equation
needs to be modified to normalize the effect of
unequal signal set average power as the
following

where Sav and S’av represent average signal

power in the coded set and the reference set
respectively.

 Distance corresponds to signal amplitude or

voltage. Thus, distance squared corresponds to
voltage squared or power.
 The average signal power of the constellation is
 Solutions…continued
 Based on Fig 9.31, Sav = 21; S’av = 5
(7) 2  (5) 2  (3) 2  (1) 2  (1) 2  (3) 2  (5) 2  (7) 2
S av   21
8

(3) 2  (1) 2  (1) 2  (3) 2

S 
'
av 5
4

 Therefore,
the asymptotic coding gain for 8-PAM
coded system with a 4-state trellis is
 Conclusion
 Basic system design goals: To maximize data rate while
simultaneously minimizing error probability, bandwidth,
Eb/N0 and complexity.
 System trade off parameters could be examined based
on 2 performance planes: error probability plane (PB
vs Eb/N0) and bandwidth efficiency plane (R/W vs
Eb/N0).
 Nyquist criterion: in order to transmit Rs symbol/s without
intersymbol interference, the minimum required
bandwidth is Rs/2.
 Shannon-Hartley theorem relates to the power-bandwidth
trade-off (Shannon Limit). The Shannon limit of -1.6dB is
the theoretical minimum amount of Eb/N0 that is
necessary (together with channel coding) to achieve an
arbitrarily low error probability over AWGN channel.
 The channel capacity limitation (R=C) is the limit above
which there cannot be error-free signaling.
 M-PSK and M-QAM modulations schemes normally used