-E_ s

No'

+ ( M - I ) E,/
Eb

Es/ No

No

TABLE I REQUIRED E ~ / N , ' FOR P ~ = ~ WITH O - ~ CONVOLUTIONAL SOFT DECODING

CODING A N D

The rate at which real information is transmitted, expressed as information bits per chip is
~~

r(Bits/Bnud)
I (uncoded)
7/8

Eb/No'

(dB)

r = k (chips/ baud) E,/ k

Rb/

(bits/ chip)= k Ts/ T b =

W , bits/baud

9.6 6.4
5.5

so that, analogously to the previous equation:

-Eb No'

+ (M-1)

E bN /o

(rlk)( & / N o )

314 l/2 113 lim (I/n) n-OD

4.5 4.0

3.4'

Given this value of Eb/No' as a design point to achieve some prescribederrorrate,thethermalnoisedensity N o mustbe such that:

Communicationsatellitesystemengineers (or linkbudget analysts) deal in terms of C / N o the received carrier power-tonoise density ratio. Becpse the total thermal noise is the sum of uplink and downlink carrier-to-noise ratio, this is obtained from combining the two as:
'All but the last entry apply to practical decoder implementation (either constraint length 7 decoders with 3-bit soft Viterbi decoding, or long constraint length sequential decoders with2-bitsoft decoding). The last entry is an asymptotic estimate. Like all other entries it is 2 dB abovethe value required for r = ro, which in this case is 10 log (2 In 2) = 1.4 dB. Note that using the latter, without the 2 dB pad. asymptotically yields the results of [ 1-41,

In Table I for several code ratesr, we give values of specified Eb/N,' for achievingacceptableperformance (BER Ilop5) with a practical convolutional code and soft a decision decoder.'

1 3

April 1985-Vol. 23, No. 4 IEEE Communications Magazine

dB-Hz
No

Each is a function of the transmitted ElRP and antenna gain and the receive G / T for that link. (For a sample link budget see Lyon [SI). The total received carrier power from all M earth stations is:

Finally, assuming M large enough that M

- 1 = M, we have:

c = M E b Rb
I f this quantity is normalized by the thermal noise in the total
utilizedbandwidth,No W,, the result carrier power-to-thermal noise ratio is the total received Figure 1 shows transmission efficiency of a n S S M A system as a function of C/N,W, for each of the code rates shown in Table 1. Twoimportantconclusionscan be drawnfromtheabove equation and Fig. I . 1) With SSMA, the satellite communication system is always power limited and never bandwidth limited. 2) The rate efficiency MRb/W, saturates at (Eb/No)- as C/N,W, becomes very large. Since &/No decreases with decreasing code rate r, the lower the code rate the better theperformance.Loweringthecoderatecostsnothing because the system is already spread and, it involves only reducing the value of k. However, performance improvement diminishes rapidly for r < I / 3, as can be noted from Table 1.

Link performance is measured by the total transmission rate efficiency of the transponder or link as a function of C/(NOWS).

q = M Rb/ W ,

bits/ sec/ Hz

For spread spectrum multiple access (SSMA) systems, this is obtained from the second, fourth, and fifth equations to be:

April 1985-Vol. 23, No. 4 IEEE Communications Magazine

14

Other Multiple Access Techniques

ForTDMAorFDMAsystems,theaboveanalysisalso holds, except that through channelization users do not interfere with each other. Thus N, = N othermal noise only and the two previous equations are replaced by:

backoff for linear performance of nonlinear amplifiers required equally for SSMA and FDMA systems.

is

Adjacent Satellite or Terrestrial Interference

Supposeexternalinterferenceisalso received intheearth terminals main or sidelobe, either from an adjacent satellite or by terrestrial means. This can also be caused by another earth terminals too wide beam, illuminating the desired satellite as well as its intended adjacent satellite. Whatever the cause, suppose this adjacent interference level, emanating from all other terminals, is on the order of KC watts. It then follows easily that for SSMA, the interference is increased by a factor ( I + K ) and the equation is modified to become:

-MRb W s

e/N o ws for MRb < r < I

Eb/

No

[TDMAIFDMA]

W S

Here W, is used to denote the total bandwidth utilized for all Musers.Figure 1 showsthepreviousequationforvarious rates. The limitation MRb/W,< r is imposed by the bandwidth requirements of BPSK modulation. If QPSK modulation is

used, the upper limit is doubled to r < 2 bitslbaud and hence efficiency continues to grow linearly until the new bandwidth limit is reached. .
Ofcourse,theabovesimpleanalysisignoresinefficiencies through guardband requirements for FDMA and guardtimes for TDMA, but these are merely scale factors which do not influence the fundamental behavior. Note also that power

F o r T D M A or F D M A , we must assume similar modulation in the adjacent satellite. Then it follows that for BPSK modulation,

With external interference, as considered in the next section, degradation will be greater than with BPSK.

for MRb < r

W S

[TDMAIFDMA]

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A p r i l 1985-Vol. 23,No. 4 IEEE C o m m u n i c a t i o n s M a g a z i n e

Thusexternalinterferencerenderssuchsystemsalsopower limited at a level I / ( K Eb/N,) provided this does not exceed r. Figures 2a, 2b, and 2c show performance for both cases for code rates 1/ 2 , 3/4, and 7 / 8 , respectively, and several levels of external interference ( K = 1 / 2, 1 / 4 and I / IO-that is, 3, 6, and I O dB below the desired carrier level).

Epilogue
Briefly, we contend that the above simple analyses and examples teach the following lessons: 1) W h e n C / N Uis a t a premium (as with small earth stations transmittingatrespectabledatarates)dontcontribute further to the noise by having the users jam one another, unless bandwidth efficiency is of no concern. This applies

3The rationalization that the interference appears as Gaussian noise for a non-spread spectrum modulation is more tenuous. However, with coding and soft decision modulation,several bauds (proportional to the code constraint length) are summed before a decision is made which means that several random variables are summed, supporting a Gaussian assumption.

only for thermal noise limited (civil) systems. In military systems, we usually have already given up on bandwidth efficiency in order to combat a very powerful jammer, and we are already using spread spectrum techniques to mitigate this effect. In such a case, the additional mutual jamming among users employingspreadspectrummultiple access techniques is often inconsequential. In terms of Fig. 1 we are operating at verylow C/(NoW) ratios whereNOWnowconsistsprimarily of jamming power. Also,theremaybeterrestrialsystemssuchascellular radio which are not power limited, and where high extracellular interference may make SSMA a more reasonable choice. 2) Network control is a small price to pay for the efficiency afforded by T M D A or F D M A . I n f a c t , S S M A is really not totally uncontrolled. Some form of power control is usually exercised; in a two-way system employing a hub, control is inherent.Eveninnetworkprotocols, we are moving away from uncontrolled, inefficient, and potentially unstable strategies, such as ALOHA, toward conflict resolution protocols with demand assignment; channel demand assignment implies network control and channel allocation. Furthermore, pseudonoise keys must

April 1985-Vol. 23, No. 4 IEEE Communications Magazine

16

be distributed to the spread spectrum networks, and individualstationsmustsynchronizetowithinasmall fraction of a chip time. Interference from adjacent satellites appears to affect the efficiency of T D M A o r F D M A less severely than it does that of S S M A . Treatingbandwidthasaninexpensivecommodityand processing as expensive is bucking the powerful trend of technology. Large-scale-integration for large-scale applications is rapidly driving down digital processing costs. Transmission bandwidth will always be a t a premium. As a by-product, we have shown that error-correcting coding increases bandwidth efficiency in all multiple access systems; particularly so in S S M A which is always power limited, but significantly also in T D M Aa n dF D M A systems. In the latter, as C/(N,W,) increases, higher code QPSK ratesarerequiredtoextendtheratelimit,and extendsthelinearregionuptodoubletheratelimit of

[5] D. L. Lyon, Personal computer communications via highperformance micro-earth-stations, to appear in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communication, 1985.

BPSK.
Themystique ofspreadspectrumcommunications is such thatcommercialenterprises,as well asacademics, are often attracted by the novelty and cleverness of the technique. Also, in small artificially aided markets, there may be temporary economic advantages. In the long run, though, it is the authors opinion that we must stand back and question the wisdom of squandering a precious resource such as bandwidth for reasons of expediency.

Acknowledgment
The author gratefully acknowledges the contributions of a n anonymousreviewerwhoserecommendationshaveconsiderably enhanced the clarity of this exposition.

References
[ I ] J. K.Wolf, Private Communication, 1980. Communication [2] A. J. Viterbi, Presentation at IEEE

Society Workshop on Communication Theory, Tucson, AZ, April 1982. [3] 0. Yue, Spread spectrum mobile radio, 1977-1982, IEEE Technology. Vol. VT-32, No. I , Transactions on Vehicular February 1983. N. Hui, Throughput analysis for code division multiple [4] J. Y. accessing of the spread spectrum channel, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communication, Vol. SAC-2, No. 4. pp. 482-286, July 1984. for

Dr. Andrew Viterbi has devoted approximately equal segments of his career to academic research, industrial development, and entrepreneurial activities. In his first employment after graduating from MIT in 1957, he was a member of the project team at C.I.T. Jet Propulsion Laboratory which designed and implemented the telemetry equipment on the first successful U.S. satellite, Explorer I. In the early sixties at the same laboratory, he was one of the first communication engineers to recognize the potential and propose digital transmission techniques for space and satellite telecommunication systems. As a professor in the UCLA School of Engineeringand Applied Science from 1963 to 1973, he did fundamental work in digital communication theory andwrote twobooks onthe subject, for whichhereceived numerous professional society awards and international recognition. These include three paper awards, culminating in the 1968 IEEE InformationTheoryGroupOutstandingPaper Award. He has also received three major society awards: the 1975 Christopher Columbus International Award (from the Italian National Research Council sponsored by the City of Genoa); the 1980 Aerospace Communications Award (from AIAA);and the1984 Alexander Graham Bell Medal (from IEEE sponsored by AT&T) for exceptional contributions to the advancement of telecommunications. The practical development of these theoretical principles led to the founding of LINKABIT Corporation, together with Dr. Irwin Jacobs. Between 1968 and 1980 LINKABIT grew to become a sizable company with unique expertise and leadership in digital signal processing equipment for military and government satellite communication. The company has grown at the same ratesince beingacquired by M/A-COM, Inc. four years ago,expandinginto commercial telecommunication equipment, terrestrial as well as satellite, and video scrambling business areas. Dr.Viterbi was Executive Vice President of LINKABITfrom 1974 to 1982. In 1982, when Dr. Jacobs became Executive Vice President of M/A-COM, hetook overas President of M/A-COM LINKABIT, Inc. In 1984, he was appointed ChiefScientist and Senior Vice President of M/A-COM, Inc. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of IEEE. He is past Chairman of the Visiting Committee for the Electrical Engineering Department of Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, and heis presently a member of the MIT Corporation Visiting Committee for Electrical Engineeringand ComputerScience. He is also Chairman of the U.S. Commission on Signal Processing of the International Radio Scientific Union (URSI) and a past member of the Army Science Board. In spite of his corporate administrative duties, he has managed to remain technically current, having recently proposed new spread spectrumprocessing techniques for jamresistant communication rn and digital cellular radio.

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A p r i l 1985-VOI. 23, NO. 4 IEEE C o m m u n i c a t i o n s M a g a z i n e