Error content in frames transmitted over burst-error channels

Wireless channels introduce burst errors as well as random errors to digitally modulated links. Proper characterization of these errors is necessary, as it not only clearly identifies the channel itself but also is of utmost importance to system designers utilizing these channels. For example, it is then possible to attempt to eliminate these errors by overlaying frame-based protocols. As data are transmitted in frames, the performance of such links is best evaluated by calculating the error content in a frame. This paper describes a novel characterization of burst-error channels, allowing for arbitrary burst-length distributions, while separate error bursts occur independently. A recursive approximation is derived for the probability that there are a certain number of errors in a frame, termed the frame error-content probability, in addition to the frame error probability and the bit error probability. The validity of the approximation is checked by first generating a test burst distribution and then evaluating the empirical burst distribution of an arbitrary simulated link. The question of estimating burst-error distribution from observed data is also considered.