Error rate of low duty DS-IR over selective channels

We present an accurate SER estimation method for low duty, QPSK modulated, Direct Sequence Impulse Radio (DS-IR) over a frequency selective channel with RAKE reception. The approach is a useful novelty since the existing SER estimation methods for DS-IR are problematic in the low duty case because they are accurate only when the number of pulses per symbol is high. The approach is exploited to study the performance of DS-IR in the IEEE 802.15.4a channel model. Our results indicate that TH is indeed necessary in low duty DS-IR to avoid a possible performance loss.