Non-ergodic error-rate analysis of finite length received sequences

A framework to analyze the instantaneous bit error rate performance of receivers processing finite length received sequences is established. Three credible interval estimators of the instantaneous bit error rate are obtained for the case of a binary symmetric channel. The degree-of-ergodicity measure is introduced to quantify the level of ergodicity of the instantaneous bit error rate for finite length received sequences. The degree-of-ergodicity is used to define non-ergodic and ergodic zones of operation of the data detector. Adaptive power control is studied in order to control, with a given probability, the worst case bit error rate of communication links operating in non-ergodic zones of binary symmetric channels.