Where academic tradition
meets the exciting future

You are here: TUCS > PUBLICATIONS > Publication Search > Performance Analysis of Reed-S...

Performance Analysis of Reed-Solomon Coding Combined with Error Detection as the Link Layer FEC by Computer Simulations

Heidi Himmanen, Tero Jokela, Jarkko Paavola, Valery Ipatov, Performance Analysis of Reed-Solomon Coding Combined with Error Detection as the Link Layer FEC by Computer Simulations. In: Handbook of Mobile Broadcasting: DVB-H, DMB, ISDB-T and MediaFLO, CRC Press, 2008.

Abstract:

Introduction

One of the strongest trends in modern telecommunication is the development of mobile wireless
multimedia broadcast systems. Digital video broadcasting–handheld (DVB-H) is an example of
such a system. It is a data broadcasting standard that enables delivery of various Internet Protocol
(IP)–
based services to mobile receivers. The standard was ratified by the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI) in November 2004. By nature, it encompasses various contemporary
telecommunication challenges, such as achieving high data rates in wireless networks,
implementing power-limited mobile receivers, and the design of bandwidth-efficient single-frequency
networks (SFNs). A common factor in all these tasks is the requirement of efficient operation
in difficult channel conditions.
The DVB-H standard, which is based on and is compatible with digital video broadcasting–
terrestrial (DVB-T), introduces solutions to problems caused by the mobility of the handheld
terminals receiving digital broadcasts. These solutions are required to achieve low power consumption,
flexibility in network planning, and good performance in mobile channels. Enhancements
to conventional DVB-T systems include the addition of time slicing and an optional stage of error
correction called Multi-Protocol Encapsulation–Forward Error Correction (MPE-FEC) at the
link layer. Time slicing means that the transmission is time division multiplexed, that is, each
service is transmitted in bursts separated in time. Power saving is achieved because the receiver
can switch off radio components between the bursts. The MPE-FEC utilizes a Reed–Solomon
(RS) code combined with time interleaving to combat channel fading. Changes at the DVB-T
physical layer consist of a new 4K orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) mode, an
in-depth interleaver, and utilization of previously unused transmission parameter signaling (TPS)
bits informing the receiver on the use of time slicing and MPE-FEC.
The DVB-H Implementation Guidelines1 define the Reed–Solomon code used in the MPEFEC
and how to puncture or shorten it. This chapter investigates the suitability of MPE-FEC to
combat against difficult channel conditions caused by mobility of the receiver. The most serious
impairment source is the Doppler phenomenon caused by movement of the receiver. It destroys
the orthogonality between the subcarriers in an OFDM system. It will be shown in this chapter
that MPE-FEC alleviates problems caused by the Doppler shift. The MPE-FEC decoding method
is left open by the standard for each receiver manufacturer to decide. By this reason, the effect
of choosing the decoding strategy for MPE-FEC deserves special consideration. In particular,
MPE-FEC decoding procedures can differ from each other by the source and utilization of erasure
information, with basic Reed–Solomon decoding algorithms remaining traditional. Two different
options for obtaining erasure information are considered.
The DVB-H standard defines a very large range of transmission parameters. The physical layer
contains the possibility to select from three different modulation modes, three OFDM modes,
five convolutional code rates, and four possible values for guard interval. The DVB-H specification
adds optional Multi-Protocol Encapsulation–Forward Error Correction (MPE-FEC), which
has five commonly considered code rates and four possible MPE-FEC frame sizes. To optimize
the operating parameters for a communication system in such circumstances, one must be able to
efficiently evaluate the performance of the system with different parameters in different channel
conditions. Testing the DVB-H system with actual transmitters and receivers is often time and
cost prohibitive. Dedicated system testing apparatus are also expensive and may submit poorly
to user modification and research outside the bounds set by the nominal system parameters. For
these reasons, efficient software-based simulators were developed and used to explore the system
performance under various parameter combinations. They have permitted the singling out some
preferable transmission modes based on achievable data rate and error performance.
The chapter is organized as follows. A brief description of the DVB-H system is given in section
20.2. Then, the performance of the DVB-H link layer FEC is analyzed in section 20.3. Based
on the performance analysis, some guidelines on the selection of transmission mode are discussed
in section 20.4. Section 20.5 is dedicated to reviewing and developing some improvements to link
layer FEC coding/decoding presented earlier in Paavola et al.

BibTeX entry:

@INBOOK{cHiJoPaIp08a,
  title = {Performance Analysis of Reed-Solomon Coding Combined with Error Detection as the Link Layer FEC by Computer Simulations},
  booktitle = {Handbook of Mobile Broadcasting: DVB-H, DMB, ISDB-T and MediaFLO},
  author = {Himmanen, Heidi and Jokela, Tero and Paavola, Jarkko and Ipatov, Valery},
  publisher = {CRC Press},
  year = {2008},
}

Belongs to TUCS Research Unit(s): Communication Systems (ComSys)

Publication Forum rating of this publication: level 2

Edit publication