Optimal coding rate of punctured convolutional codes in multiservice wireless cellular systems

The microcellular link performance of future multimedia wireless systems could he improved by using error-correcting punctured convolutional codes in conjunction with slow-frequency hopping. However, the bandwidth expansion due to coding leads to a decrease in the signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) of a frequency-division time-division multiple-access (FD-TDMA) cellular radio link if the system capacity is to be maintained for a given bandwidth allocation. This work determines the best compromise between the power of error correction due to coding and the strength of the self-induced system interference in terms of numerous criteria for speech and data transmission. The aforementioned tradeoff is evaluated in terms of the average bit error rate (BER), the frame error rate, and the burst error distribution for voice transmission. For data transmission with a type 1 hybrid selective-repeat automatic repeat-request (ARQ) protocol, the criteria are average throughput and throughput distribution, the round-trip acknowledgment transmission delay distribution, and the buffering requirements at the transmitter and receiver. The study highlights that punctured codes can significantly improve performance for wireless data links in comparison with the rate 1/2 convolutional coding case or the no-coding case.