Improved E/sub b//N/sub 0/ estimation with soft quantized detection

In satellite communications, meteor burst communications, as well as digital land mobile radio networks, adaptive power control, variable encoding, or transmission rate control are suited to keep the link at a constant bit error rate under varying channel quality. To control adaptive systems of this kind, an analog process quantity has to be monitored, which indicates the current link quality. This quantity has to be measureable fast and accurately enough to allow for a quick reaction of the adaptive link control system. We present a method to quickly estimate the quality of the link, applying soft quantization of received bits. We demonstrate how the quantizer must be implemented in order to achieve a near optimum performance.