Analytical performance evaluation of trellis coded modulation for mobile satellite channels

Multilevel block coded modulation (BCM) and trellis coded modulation (TCM) can be used to increase spectral efficiency over a satellite channel. An analysis of bit error rates (BER) as a function of signal to noise ratio (SNR) is needed in the calculation of link budgets. The BER is approximated using the union bound on pairwise error event probabilities. An exact expression for the pairwise error event probability is derived for coded modulation schemes in Rician fading with non-ideal interleaving. An example TCM code is simulated, and a comparison is made between the analytic expression for the pairwise error event probability and the simulated result. The analysis includes coherent detection with perfect channel information and finite interleaving.