Bit-error rate of M-QAM signal and its analysis model for composite distortions in AM/QAM hybrid transmission

In cable television (CATV) systems that deliver digital video services by employing a hybrid fiber and coaxial network, it is important to consider digital channel deterioration due to composite distortions, as well as the amplitude-modulation vestigial-sideband channel. Furthermore, it is essential to clearly estimate a digital channel's quality in designing CATV transmission systems. However, there have been few studies on statistical models and an analysis method to estimate the bit-error rate (BER) of M-ary quadrature amplitude-modulation signals for composite distortions. This paper shows statistical properties of composite distortions and a new BER analysis method to handle them. In the evaluations, the amplitude distributions of composite distortions are given by Weibull distributions with skewness levels of 2.3 for composite second-order distortion and 1.5 for composite triple-beat distortion. We propose a new BER analysis method that uses the Weibull distributions for the composite distortion statistical features and demonstrate the effectiveness of the new BER analysis method in estimating BER by comparing its measurement results to calculation results.