A novel approach to modeling of OQPSK-type digital transmission over nonlinear radio channels

Offset quaternary PSK-type (OQPSK) digital modulation schemes are often recommended for radio transmission systems employing grossly nonlinear amplifiers, and have found widespread use in land mobile and/or satellite communications. Most of the recommended OQPSK-type schemes-also called MSK-type schemes-jointly exhibit the following features: a constant envelope or, at least, a low envelope fluctuation; a compact spectrum after a power-efficient, saturated amplifier, and a high detection efficiency obtained with simple, low-cost receivers. We introduce a novel approach to computer-aided modeling of OQPSK-type digital transmission over nonlinear radio channels. By taking into account the specific nature of OQPSK-type modulations, when using the Volterra approach as proposed by Benedetto et al. (1987), we conclude that two signal representations ("parallel" and "serial") can be achieved which are similar to the conventional Laurent (1986) representation of binary CPM signals with h=1/2. With the proposed approach, the OQPSK-type signals have an invariant structure along the transmission path (which is supposed to include, at least, one nonlinearity) in the sense that they are all made of several linear components of the same type. Some examples are given, including signal representation and power spectrum results. The proposed unified signal representations can be very useful for design and performance evaluation of radio communication systems (mobile and/or satellite applications). They combine flexibility, accuracy, and simplicity, and allow high computational efficiencies.