5-1

5. Pilot Aided Modulations

In flat fading, if we have a good channel estimate of the complex gain ( ) g t ,
then we can perform coherent detection.
Obtaining a good estimate is difficult. As we have seen, differential
detection has a significant error floor for moderate to fast fading, and using
conventional phase estimation technique like a squaring loop is even worse.
One solution is to transmit a known signal embedded in the random data.
The receiver picks out the known signals, estimates the complex gain, and
compensates for it during demodulation.
Advantages :
- suppression of the error floor,
- almost coherent detection with absolute phase reference, so no
differential encoding,
- provides weights necessary for maximal ratio combining (to be covered
in a later chapter).
Disadvantages :
- some transmit power is spent on the reference
- some bandwidth or transmission time is spent on the reference
- additional complexity in transmitter and/or receiver
5-2
- delay due to estimation (may not be good for applications such as
speech).
5.1 Pilot-tone Assisted Modulation (PTAM)
References :
1. F Davarian, Mobile digital communications via tone-calibration, IEEE Trans.
On Vehicular Technology, May 87
2. J.P. McGeehan and A.J. Bateman, Phase locked transparent tone in band, a
new spectrum configuration particularly suited to the transmission of data over
SSB mobile radio networks, IEEE Trans. On Communications, Jan 84.
As the name suggests, PTAM is a technique that generates a reference
signal in the frequency domain. The system block diagram is shown below.
( ) r t
A
( ) s t
( ) n t
Data Encoding and
Pulse Shaping
( ) g t
( )
k b
s t kT ! !
"
k
r
kT
*
k
g
k
y
Delay
Matched
Filter
Tone
Filter
kT
*
( )
5-3
It requires data-encoding/pulse shaping to generate a spectral null in the
baseband signal. If this spectral notch is wide enough to accommodate the
Doppler-spread tone and data, then the two components can be separated at
the receiver by filtering. The low pass filter (LPF) output is a good estimate
of the channel gain
( ) g t
.
Disadvantages :
- creating a spectral null requires precoding of the data and leads to
bandwidth expansion,
- incorporating a spectral null and incorporating a tone both increase the
dynamic range of the signal and therefore the need for amplifier
linearization.
Exercise : Suggest a data encoding technique that will generate a spectral
null in the baseband BPSK signal. Determine the power spectral density
(PSD) and bandwidth of the resultant signal, assuming square root raised
cosine pulse shaping. (Hint : [Proakis 4-4-1] provides a general formula for
the PSD of linearly modulated signals with correlated data).
5.2 Pilot Symbol Assisted Linear Modulations
References :
1. M. Moher, J. Lodge, TCMP a modulation and coding strategy for Rician
fading channels, IEEE J. on Selected Areas in Communications, Dec 89
2. S. Sampei, T. Sunaga, Rayleigh Fading Compensation for QAM in Land
Mobile Radio Communictions, IEEE Trans. Vehicular Technology, May 93
5-4
3. J. Cavers, An analysis of Pilot Symbol Assisted Modulation for Rayleigh
Fading Channels, IEEE Trans. Vehicular Technology, Nov. 91.
In pilot symbol assisted modulation (PSAM), the reference signal is
introduced in the time domain. The block diagram is shown below.
Block diagram for pilot symbol assisted linear modulation system.
Known symbols are inserted periodically into the data sequence prior to
pulse shaping. The resulting frame structure is shown below.
Transmitted frame structure in PSAM
5-5
The frame size M must be chosen such that the Nyquist sampling criterion
is satisfied :
1
2
s d
f f
MT
=
The figure below plots the BEP as a function of pilot symbol spacing.
BEP of BPSK as a function of pilot spacing ( / 30
b o
E N = dB, interpolator size 63)
The modulated signal can be written as
( ) ( )
k
k
s t s p t kT

=
=
!
just as before, but with
,
, , ,
M o M
s s s

! !
being the pilot symbols that are
known to the receiver.
5-6
The pilot symbols should be randomized to avoid tonal effect.
Advantages over pilot-tone : (1) no change in the shape of data spectrum,
(2) a smaller bandwidth expansion, and (3) no increase in dynamic range.
The receiver picks out the pilots
kM kM kM kM
r g s n = +
,
de-rotates them to obtain

kM kM kM kM kM
g s r g n = = +
which is the receivers estimate of the fading gain at time t kMT = . Note
we assume PSK modulation so that 1
k k
s s = , and that we have absorbed the
pilot symbol
kM
s
into the noise term
kM
n
Fading gain estimates at data symbol positions are obtained via
interpolation. If we know the channel statistics (SNR, Doppler spectrum),
we can design interpolation filters that minimize the MSE; Appendix 5A
provides the details.
The optimal interpolator is different for different bit position.
The performance improves as the size of the interpolators increase but with
diminishing return; see diagram below.
5-7
BEP of BPSK as function of the size of the interpolators
Once the fading gain estimate

k
g
is obtained, the receiver forms the
decision variable :
* * *

k k k k k k k k
y g r g g s g n = = +
If
( )
* *
2Re
k k k k k
D y g r g r = = +
is positive, then assume
1
k
s =
, else assume
1
k
s =
. Without loss in
generality, let
1
k
s =
. Then a wrong decision is made if D < 0. The BEP is
thus Pr[D < 0]. Using the results from Section 4.5, we can show that
{ }
1
( ) (1 ( )
2
e
P k k =
(for real ( ) k )
where
5-8

( )
( )
( )
rg
rr gg
R k
k
R R k
=
is the correlation coefficient between
k
r
and

k
g
, with
*
1
2
( )
rg k k
R k E r g " # =
$ %
,
2
1
2
( )
gg k
R k E g
" #
=
$ %
, and
2
1
2 rr k
R E r
" #
=
$ %
. The detailed expressions for these
terms are given in Appendix 5A.
Note that the index k in the above expressions represents the k-th data bit in
a frame. Different bit positions have (slightly) different BEP because the
interpolators are different. The average BEP is
1 1
1 1
2 2
1
2
1
1 1 1
( ) ( )
1 2 2( 1)
( )
1 1

2 2( 1)
M M
e e
k k
M
g o
k
g o
P P k k
M M
k
M N

= =

=
= =

=
+
! !
!
where
2
( )
o
k
is the mean square estimation error for the k-th bit position.
Check : If we set
2
( ) 0
o
k =
, the result agrees with the one for ideal
coherent detection.
BEP for BPSK with frame size of M = 7 and optimal interpolators of size
K = 11 are shown below. Note :
- for fair comparison with non-pilot aided system, we set
2
1
b g
M
E
M
=

5-9
- Better than DPSK at all values of SNR and unlike DPSK, there is no
irreducible error floor even at 0.05
d
f T =
- At 0
d
f T = (static fading), only 1 dB worse than coherent BPSK.
Increases to 3.5 dB at 5% Doppler
BEP of BPSK in fast fading channel
It may not be realistic to assume optimal interpolators at every bit position.
Two remedies :
1. use an adaptive interpolator, or
2. optimize for one operating point and use them for other operating
conditions.
5-10
The BEP for BPSK optimized for
/ 20
b o
E N =
dB and 5% Doppler are
shown below. Compared to the results in pp. 5-8, we see degradations due
to mismatch are in the order of 1 dB.
BEP of BPSK with mismatched interpolators.
Exercise : Is it really true that PSAM does not have an irreducible error
floor ?
5.3 Pilot Symbol Assisted Continuous Phase Modulations
References :
1. J.B. Anderson, T. Aulin, C.-E. Sundberg, Digital Phase Modulation, Plenum
Press, New York, 1986.
2. Proakis [Sections 4-3, 4-4]
5-11
3. P. Ho, J.H. Kim, Pilot Symbol Assisted Detection of CPM Schemes Operating in
Fast Fading Channel, IEEE Trans. On Communications, March 1996.
Our discussions so far are limited to linear modulations like PSK. Non-
linear modulations, like continuous phase modulation (CPM) are also
commonly used in mobile fading channels. One good example is the so-
called Gaussian Minimum Shift Keying (GMSK), which is used in the
GSM cellular system.
Main advantage of CPM is its constant envelop, which means less sensitive
to non-linear amplifier distortion than linear modulation.
Main disadvantage of CPM is a more complex receiver more DSP power
is need.
BEP is similar to linear modulation.
5.3.1 Review of CPM
A CPM signal can be generated by feeding a baseband PAM signal c(t) to a
FM modulator
( ) s t "
( ) c t
( )
k
c t kT
!
Pulse Shaping Filter
( ) p t
FM
Modulator
5-12
The bandpass CPM signal corresponding to a random input data sequence
{ }
k
c
can be written as
( )
2
( ) cos 2 ( ) Re ( )
c
t
j f t
c
s t f t h c d s t e

& '
= + =
( )
* +
,
"
with
( ) exp ( ) exp ( )
exp ( )
exp( ( ))
t t
k
k
k
k
s t j h c d j h c p kT d
j h c q t kT
j t

=
- . - .
= =
/ 0 / 0
1 2 1 2
- .
=
/ 0
1 2
=
!
, ,
!
being its complex envelop. It should be clear that
( ) ( )
k
k
t h c q t kT

=
=
!
is the phase-trajectory of the CPM signal.
Straightly speaking, phase should be taken modulo 2 . We will examine
this point more closely later on.
The term h is called the modulation index, p(t) is called the frequency
pulse, and
0
( ) ( )
t
q t p d =
,
is referred to as the phase pulse. By varying h, p(t), and the sample space of
k
c
, we obtain CPM schemes with different characteristics.
5-13
Note :
- unlike linear modulations where the data symbols are complex (in
general), the data symbols,
k
c
, in CPM are always real.
- The frequency pulse is time-limited to the interval [0, LT] and has an
area normalized to unity. This means
( ) 0 q t =
for 0 t and ( ) 1 q t = for
t LT
Example : The so-called Minimum Shift Keying (MSK) scheme uses a
modulation index of h = , a rectangular p(t) with L=1, and { 1}
k
c
Exercise : Find out the specifications for the so-called GMSK scheme used
in GSM.
Classification of CPM schemes :
- If 1 L = , we have full response CPM; 1 L > implies partial response.
- If 1 L = , and the frequency pulse is the rectangular pulse shown
above, we have continuous phase frequency shift keying (CPFSK).
- For binary schemes,
{ 1}
k
c
. For M-ary schemes,
{ } 1, 3, , ( 1)
k
c M ! .
( ) p t
1/ T
T
t
( ) q t
1
T
t
5-14
General characteristics of CPM :
- Strictly speaking, CPM are not bandlimited signals. A common
measure is the 99% bandwidth.
- The smoother/longer the frequency pulse is, the narrower is the PSD,
but the higher the BEP.
- For a given pulse shape, the bandwidth increases with the modulation
index h. The BEP however, decreases with increasing h (for small h
only, because CPM is non-linear).
Power spectra for MSK and some binary and 4-ary CPM with raised cosine
(RC) pulse shaping are shown below [from Proakis, Section 4-4-2].

PSD of some binary and 4-ary CPM schemes
Note that in the RC case,
5-15
1 2
( ) 1 cos 0
t
p t t LT
LT LT

& '
=
( )
* +
and zero otherwise.
Consider binary CPFSK, i.e. binary CPM with 1 L = and rectangular pulse
shaping. A plot of the phase trajectory for different input data sequences
are shown in the phase tree below.
Phase Tree of CPFSK
5-16
The phase at t kT = is
1
0
( )
k
n
n
kT h c

=
& '
=
( )
* +
!
Phase changes linearly, and the change in a single interval is always
h
Since phases are taken modulo 2 , so if h is a rational number, there are
only a finite number of possible values for
( ) kT
.
For MSK where
1/ 2 h =
, there are only 4 possible values for
( ) kT
: 0,
/ 2, , 3 / 2
. This means the phase tree can be replaced by a phase
trellis.
Phase Trellis of MSK
Alternatively, we can replace the phase trellis by simply a state diagram.
5-17
MSK state diagram. State
n
represents a phase state of
/ 2 n
The complex envelop of MSK for a transition from state n to n+1 (during
the k-th interval) is
1
( ) | exp
2 2
n n
n t kT
s t j j kT t kT T
T

+

& '
= + +
( )
* +
and for a transition from state n to n-1 is
1
( ) | exp
2 2
n n
n t kT
s t j j kT t kT T
T

+

& '
= +
( )
* +
Note that if we assume the initial state is 0, then n must be even when k is
even, and it must be odd when k is odd. In other word, although there are 4
different states in the system, the only reachable states at even time are
states 0 and 2. States 1 and 3 are only reachable at odd time.
So in summary, a CPM scheme with a rational modulation index can be
represented by a finite-state machine, just like convolutional codes. The
0
1
2
3
+1
-1
5-18
only difference is that in convolutional codes, a state transition emits a
binary logic level, while in CPM, a transition emits a complex signal.
Because of the structure of the convolutional encoder, the optimal decoder
is a maximum likelihood sequence estimator, which can be implemented
efficiently through the Viterbi algorithm.
Because of the structural similarity between convolutional codes and CPM,
it can be concluded that we can use a Viterbi demodulator on CPM. The
only difference is the decoding metric. Will discuss this in Appendix 5 B.
5.3.2 Pilot Symbol Insertion Rules in CPM
Now want to examine how pilot symbols can be used to assist the
demodulation of CPM signals in flat fading channels.
Will focus on MSK.
The MSK signal at the receivers front end can be written as
( )
'( ) ( ) ( ) '( ) ( ) '( )
j t
r t s t g t n t g t e n t

= + = +
where g(t) is the fading process and n(t) is the channels AWGN whose
PSD is
o
N . Assume that the complex envelope has a 2-sided bandwidth of
B Hz. Then we can filter
'( ) r t
using an ideal low pass filter of bandwidth B
Hz to obtain the effective received signal
( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
j t
r t s t g t n t g t e n t

= + = +
5-19
where n(t) is the filtered Gaussian noise. The PSD of n(t) is still
o
N , but its
bandwidth is limited to B Hz. Consequently, the power or variance of n(t)
is
o
N B. The variance or power of the signal component on the other hand is
2
g

. So SNR in r(t) is
2
g
r
o
SNR
N B

=
Note that the bandwidth of CPM is only loosely defined. Although the 99%
bandwidth is commonly used, it may not be safe to use a front-end filter
with this bandwidth. This stems from the fact that filtering out the 1% tail
in the spectrum will cause intersymbol interference (whose power is
probably 1% the signal power), thus causing an irreducible error floor.
To avoid ISI, B has to be substantially larger than the bit rate 1/T. Let
B=G/T, then the SNR in the received signal can now be written as
2
1
/
g
b
r
o o
E
SNR
N G T G N
& '
= =
( )
* +
For MSK, 4 G to avoid substantial ISI (and hence irreducible error floor)
in the range of /
b o
E N of interest. Note that
(bandlimited noise)
(wide band noise)
CPM Rxs
Front End Filter
Bandwidth = B = G/T
'( ) r t ( ) r t
5-20
( )
2
1
2
2 2
2
1
2
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
kT T
b
kT
kT T
g
kT
E E g t s t dt
E g kT s t dt T
+
+
=
" #
=
$ %
,
,
Exercise : What is the danger in using a front-end filter with too-large a
bandwidth. G/T ?
If
( )
nM t nMT
t
=
=
are known to the receiver, then it can estimate
( )
nM t nMT
g g t
=
=
through a de-rotation :
( )
exp
nM nM nM nM nM
g r j g n = = +
where
( )
nM t nMT
r r t
=
=
,
( )
nM t nMT
n n t
=
=
. The SNR in

kM
g
is
r
SNR
.
As mentioned in Section 5.3.1, MSK can be represented by a finite state
machine with four states. States 0 and 2 are reachable at 2 t kT = while
states 1 and 3 are reachable at
(2 1) t k T = +
. Consider the insertion of a
pilot symbol
1 nM
c

at
( 1) t nM T =
. For convenience, assume (nM-1) an
even number.
0 1
2
3
+1
-1
( 1) nM T nMT
5-21
If the pilot symbol is a +1, then the state at time nMT can be either 1 or 3,
depending on what the state at time ( 1) nM T is. Same is true for a 1 pilot
symbol
Seems like pilot-symbols can not eliminate the randomness in the complex
envelop at the pilot sampling instants. So cant be used to estimate the
channel complex gain.
To get around this problem, use data dependent pilot symbols [Ho and
Kim] :
If the modulator finds out that it is at state 0 at time ( 1) nM T , insert the pilot
symbol
1
1
nM
c

=
. If it is at state 2, the value of the pilot symbol should be
1
1
nM
c

=
.
According to this pilot symbol insertion rule, the state at time nMT will
always be state 1. Of course you can modify the pilot symbol insertion rule
so that the state at time nMT will always be state 3.
Since the phase at time nMT is fixed (hence known to the receiver), de-
rotating the received signal at this time instant by this pilot-phase yields the
fading gain estimate

nM
g
.
+1
0 1
2 3
-1
( 1) nM T
nMT
5-22
Now that it is feasible to use pilot symbols for channel estimation in MSK,
lets examine the finer points.
The main drawback in using the pilot samples at t nMT = as a channel
estimate is the accuracy. Recall that it has a SNR of only ( )
1
/
b o G
E N
.
Can get around this by inserting an extra pilot symbol
nM
c
; see diagram
below.
Now not only the signal phase at
t nMT =
is uniquely defined, but also the
signal in the transition from
t nMT =
to
( 1) t nM T = +
. The received
signal in this transition can be written as
( ) ( ) ( )
nM
r t g s t n t +
where s(t) is known to the receiver. So an estimate of
nM
g
can be obtained
from :
( 1) ( 1) ( 1)
2
* *
1 1 1
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )

nM T nM T nM T
nM nM
nMT nMT nMT
nM nM
g r t s t dt g s t dt s t n t dt
T T T
g e
+ + +
= = +
= +
, , ,
0 1
2 3
( 1) nM T
nMT
0
2
( 1) nM T +
5-23
where it is shown in Appendix 5C that the variance of
nM
e
is only
2
/
e o
N T = . This means the SNR in

nM
g
is now
/
b o
E N
, i.e. G times the
SNR in the single- pilot estimator.
The problem with the double-pilot symbol scheme is a reduction in
transmission efficiency.
One way to get around this is to use decision feedback in the single-pilot
estimator. The algorithm works as follows (assume a frame size of M; the
pilot symbols are
1 nM
c

, n an integer) :
1. Set iteration counter # to 1.
2. Get initial estimates
(1)
nM
g
, n = 0,1,2,, (the 1 in
(1)
nM
g
stands for
the fact that 1 = # ) through sampling the received signal at t nMT = ,
followed by de-rotation.
3. Perform interpolation of the
(1)
nM
g
s to obtain initial estimates
(1)
nM k
g
+
,
1 1 k M , for the data bits.
4. Perform MLSE using the initial fading gain estimates; see Appendix
5B. This generates the tentative decisions
(1)
nM k
c
+
. Use these tentative
decisions to regenerate the MSK signal for the purpose of decision
feedback. The regenerated signal is denoted by
1
( ) s t .
5. Increase # to 1 + # .
6. Re-estimate the fading gains at t = nMT according to
( )
( 1)
*
1
1
( ) ( )
nM T
nM
nMT
g r t s t dt
T
+

=
,
#
#
5-24
If no decision feedback error,

nM nM nM
g g e = + where as demonstrated
earlier,
nM
e
is a zero-mean complex Gaussian random variable with
variance
2
/
e o
N T =
7. Obtained updated fading gain estimates
( )
nM k
g
+
#
through interpolation
of the
( )
nM
g #
s. Perform MLSE using the
( )
nM k
g
+
#
s. This generates the
up-dated tentative decisions
( )
nM k
c
+
#
. Obtain the regenerated MSK
signal ( ) s t
#
from these tentative decisions.
8. Repeat Steps 5 to 7 for a desired number of times.
As long as the SNR is reasonably large, the above decision feedback
estimation strategy would work well. Results for 0.01
d
f T = , 0.03
d
f T = , and a
= b = 5 (i.e. size of pilot interpolators is 10 with 5 coefficients on ether side
of the data frame) are shown below. Also shown are results for MSK with
ideal coherent detection and differential detection.
Note
1. The results are based on a more accurate initial estimation strategy. So
there will be a larger difference between 1 pass (iteration) and 2 pass if
the initial estimates in Step 1 are used. Also, a more elaborate fading
gain re-estimation strategy was used.
2. Precoding is a technique used to reduced the BEP in the Viterbi
demodulator; see Appendix 5B.
Exercise : Convince yourself that differential detection can be applied to
MSK.
5-25
Observations :
1. No irreducible error. Actually a small diversity effect BEP decreases
faster than inverse SNR.
2. At 0.01
d
f T = and
3
10
e
P

= , the 2-pass demodulator provides a 2.5 dB
improvement over the 1-pass demodulator. Not much improvement by
going to 3-pass.
3. At 0.03
d
f T = and
3
10
e
P

= , the precoder provides a 1.8 dB coding gain over
no precoding.
BEP of MSK at 0.01
d
f T = with precoding. Frame size is M=30.
5-26
Effect of Precoding on BEP of MSK at 0.03
d
f T = . Frame size is M=10.
5-27
Appendix 5A : Detail Analysis of PSAM
As shown in Section 5.1, the fading gain estimate obtained from the pilot
symbol at time t kMT = is

kM kM kM kM kM
g s r g n = = +
where
kM
g
and
kM
n
are zero mean complex Gaussian RVs with variance
2
g

and
o
N respectively. Furthermore, the autocorrelation function for the
fading gains is
* 2 2
1
2
[ ] (2 )
g n n k g o d g k
k E g g J kf T J

" # = = =
$ %
where (2 )
k o d
J J kf T $ .
Consider the frame from time 0 to MT. Want to estimate
k
g
, k = 1,2,,M,
from the pilot samples
,
( , , )
t
aM M aM bM
g g g

= r !
using an interpolation filter
1
( ) ( ( ), ( ), , ( ))
a a b
k h k h k h k

= h !
of size 1 K a b = + + . The corresponding estimate is denoted by
( )
k
g k = h r
5-28
The optimal interpolator, in the mean square error (MSE) sense, is the one
that minimizes
2 2
2
1 1
2 2
2
*
1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2
2
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
k k k
k k k
g rr gr rg
k E g g E g k
E g E k k E g k E g k
k k k k k k

" # " #
= =
$ % $ %
" #
" # " # " # = +
$ % $ % $ %
$ %
= +
h r
h rr h r h h r
h ! h ! h h !
where
( )
* * *
1 1
2 2
, , ,
gr k k aM M aM bM rg
E g E g g g g

" #
" # = = =
$ %
$ %
! r ! !
and
( )
* * *
1 1
2 2

, , ,

aM
M aM
rr aM M aM bM
bM
g
g
E E g g g
g

" #
& '
3 4 ( )
3 4 ( )
" # = =
$ %
3 4 ( )
3 4 ( )
( )
3 4
* +
$ %
! rr !
%
It can be obtained by solving (see [Proakis, 10-2-2])
2
( ) 0; , 1 , ..., 1,
( )
n
k n a a b b
h k

= =

leading to
( ) ( )
rr gr
k k = h ! !
(so called normal equation), or
1
( ) ( )
gr rr
k k

= h ! !
(Weiner filter)
The corresponding MSE is
5-29
2 2 1
( ) ( ) ( )
o g gr rr rg
k k k

= ! ! !
If we index the rows/columns of r,
( )
gr
k !
and
rr
!
from a to b, then the
i -th element of
( )
gr
k !
, a i b , is
( )
* * *
1 1
2 2
2
( , )

gr k iM k iM iM
g k iM
k i E g g E g g n
J

" #
" # = = +
$ %
$ %
=
and the
( , ) i j
-th element of
rr
!
,
, a i j b
is
( )( )
* * *
1 1
2 2
2
2
( )
( , )
if

otherwise
rr iM jM iM iM jM jM
g o
g i j M
i j E g g E g n g n
N i j
J

" #
" # = = + +
$ %
$ %
- + =
5
=
/
5
1
Exercise : Compute the optimal interpolators and the corresponding MSE
for the following channel and system conditions :
a)
2
100, 1, 0.05, 12, 7
g o d
N f K M = = = = =
, and
b)
2
100, 1, 0.01, 12, 7
g o d
N f K M = = = = =
In each case, plot the MSE as a function of the bit position and comment.
Note : K is the size of the interpolators.
Exercise (mismatch interpolators) : Use the interpolators derived in (a)
above for the channel conditions in (b) and vice versa. Plot the MSE as a
5-30
function of the bit position. Compare with the results in the last exercise
and comment.
So in summary, the channel estimate for the k-th bit is
1
( )
k gr rr
g k

= ! ! r
The correlation between

k
g and
k
g
is thus
* 1
1

2
( ) ( ) ( )
gg k k gr rr rg
R k E g g k k

" # = =
$ %
! ! !
The variance of

k
g is
2
1
1

2
( ) ( ) ( )
gg k gr rr rg
R k E g k k

" #
= =
$ %
! ! !
In order to determine the BEP on pp. 5-7, we need to calculate the
correlation coefficient between

k
g
and
k k k
r g n = +
(remember, we assume
the transmitted symbol is 1
k
s = ). It can be shown that
* 1
1

2
( ) ( ) ( )
rg k k gr rr rg
R k E r g k k

" # = =
$ %
! ! !
and
2
2
1
2 rr k g o
R E r N
" #
= = +
$ %
Thus the correlation coefficient is
5-31
( )
( )
1

2

2 2
2
( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )

rg gr rr rg
g o gg rr
g o
g o
R k k k
k
N R k R
k
N

= =
+

=
+
! ! !
The average BEP thus takes on the form shown in Section 5.2.
5-32
Appendix 5B : The Viterbi Demodulator for MSK.
Since CPM can be represented by a finite state machine. The optimal
receiver is a maximum likelihood sequence estimator (MLSE). An efficient
algorithm for MLSE is the Viterbi Algorithm (VA).
Let
( ,{ })
k
s t c
be the MSK signal corresponding to the data sequence
{ }
k
c
.
During the n-th interval,
( ,{ })
k
s t c
can be written as
( )
( ,{ }) exp { } ( 1)
2
k n k n
t nT
s t c j c jc nT t n T
T

& '
= + +
( )
* +
where
( )
1
0
{ } ( ,{ })
2
n
n k k t nT k
k
c t c c

=
=
= =
!
is the phase state at time nT. As pointed out earlier, there are only 4
different states in MSK.
The transmitted signal s(t) is from the set { } ( ,{ })
k
s t c
. The received
signal (after noise filtering) in the n-th interval is
( )
( ) ( )
n
r t g s t n t +
where
( )
n
g g nT =
is the fading gain in the n-th interval and n(t) is the
(filtered) AWGN whose PSD is
o
N .
5-33
The MSK receiver determine which signal
( ,{ })
k
s t c
has the largest
correlation
( )
* *
0
* *
0
*
0
({ }) 2Re ( ) ( ) ( ,{ })
2Re ( ) ( ,{ })
2Re { }
k k
nT T
n k
n
nT
n n k
n
c r t g t s t c dt
g r t s t c dt
g r c

=
- .
=
/ 0
1 2
- .
=
/ 0
1 2
- .
=
/ 0
1 2
,
!
,
!
with the received signal, where
( ) ( ) ( )
( 1)
{ } exp { } ( ) exp
2
n T
n k n k n
nT
t nT
r c j c r t jc dt
T

- .
=
/ 0
1 2
,
is the branch correlation.
The correlation can be written recursively as
( ) ( ) ( ) { }
*
1
{ } { } 2Re { }
n k n k n n k
c c g r c
+
= +
where
( )
1
*
0
({ }) 2Re { }
n
n k m m k
m
c g r c

=
- .
=
/ 0
1 2
!
is the cumulative correlation up to time t=nT.
5-34
The Viterbi algorithm works as follows. From the trellis diagram of MSK,
we can see that there are always two transitions joining (merging) in the
same state. Suppose { }
k
c
and { }
k
c"
generates MSK signals that merge at
state # at time nT. After the merge, the two signals are identical (i.e having
the same state sequence). This means one of the sequences can be thrown
away at nT. The path metric at state # and time nT is defined as
( ) ( ) ( )
( , ) max { } , { }
n k n k
n c c = " #
Suppose ( ) ( ) { } { }
n k n k
c c > " , so the sequence { }
k
c
survives the selection at
state # and time nT. This means we can update ( ) { }
n k
c to ( )
1
{ }
n k
c
+
through
the recursion ( ) ( ) ( ) { }
*
1
{ } { } 2Re { }
n k n k n n k
c c g r c
+
= +
. In the next iteration,
( )
1
{ }
n k
c
+
will be compared with ( )
1
{ }
n k
c
+
"
"
of the sequence
{ }
k
c
"
"
that merge
with { }
k
c
at the same state at time ( 1) n T +
Note that the word sequence in the above paragraph actually refers to the
part of a sequence from time 0 up to the time instant under consideration in
the algorithm. The future portion of that sequence is only relevant if the
sequence survives the selection.
The algorithm continues until the end of the data sequence is reached. At
this point, the algorithm picks the sequence with the largest path metric.
Of course in each iteration, we have to perform the survivor selection for
all the states and update the corresponding cumulative correlation.
Exercise : Write a simulation program to evaluate the performance of MSK
with Viterbi demodulation in the AWGN channel (i.e. no fading).
5-35
The need for precoding :
The performance of the Viterbi demodulator is dominated by the minimum
squared Euclidean distance between signal sequences in the trellis. For
MSK, the sequences { } {1, 1, , , }
k
c d d = ! and { } { 1, 1, , , }
k
c d d = + " ! generates
signals that are closest neighbours in the signal space (note : there are more
than 1 pair of minimum distance neighbours). This means if
{ }
k
c
are the
transmitted data and if there are decoding errors, then the most likely
demodulator output is the sequence { }
k
c"
.
If we use a memoryless data encoder, i.e. we map a logic 0 to
1
k
c =
and
a logic 1 to
1
k
c =
, then whenever the demodulator makes an
erroroneous decision, we get 2 bit errors in a roll.
Relationship between input logic level and channel symbols when
no precoding.
The data precoder shown below cuts the bit error in the most dominant
error events by half (great for fading channel !). This stems from the fact
that transitions entering the same state are caused by the same input logic
level.
+1
+1
-1
0
1
2
3
-1
0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
Logic
0 in
Logic
1 in
5-36
Relationship between input logic level and channel symbols
when there is precoding.
-1
-1
+1
+1
+1
+1
-1
0
1
2
3
-1
0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
Logic
0 in
Logic
1 in
5-37
Appendix 5C :
We want to determine the variance of the complex Gaussian random
variable :
( 1)
*
1
( ) ( )
nM T
nM
nMT
e s t n t dt
T
+
=
,
where ( )
2
( ) exp ( )
n nM T
s t j j c t nMT

= +
is the MSK signal in the interval
[ , ] nMT nMT T + . The above integral is equivalent to passing the Gaussian
noise process ( ) n t to a filter with impulse response
*
( ) / s t T and then
evaluate the output of the filter at 0 t = . With this interpretation, it becomes
clear that the power spectral density (PSD) of the output Gaussian noise of
the filter is
2
2
( ) ( )
( )
n
e
P f S f
P f
T
=
where
/(2 )
( )
0 otherwise
o
n
N f G T
P f
-
=
/
1
is the PSD of n(-t), and
2
2
( ) exp ( )
2
sin 2
4

2
4
n
nMT T
j ft
n nM
nMT
nM
j j nMfT
nM
S f j j c t nMT e dt
T
c
f T
M
e e
c
f
M

& '
= +
( )
* +
& '
" #

( )
3 4
$ %
* +
=
& '
" #

( )
3 4
$ %
* +
,
5-38
is the Fourier transform of the s(t).
The variance (power) of
nM
e
is simply the area under the PSD curve, i.e.
2
/(2 )
2
2
1
2 2
/(2 )
/(2 )
2
/(2 )
2
( ) ( )
sinc 2
4
sinc 2
4
G T
n
e nM
G T
G T
nM
o
G T
nM o
o
P f S f
E e df
T
c
N f T df
M
c N
N f T df
M T

" #
= =
$ %
& '
" #
=
( )
3 4
$ %
* +
& '
" #
< =
( )
3 4
$ %
* +
,
,
,
where
sinc( ) sin( ) / x x x =
. Although straightly speaking the variance of
nM
e
is less than /
o
N T , we take it as so, because most of noise power is
contained in the main lobe of the
2
sinc ( ) function and our choice of G
results in a noise bandwidth significantly larger than the main lobe of the
2
sinc ( ) function.