CT111: Introduction to Communication Systems

Lab 4

This Lab is a continuation of the prior Lab on the analytical problem solving. You are asked to
solve two problems. These are central to the two major functions that lie at the heart of a modern
digital communication system — the channel coding and the modulation. See Fig. 1.

Figure 1: Block diagram of a digital communication system

At the end of this Lab, you will have grasped the central design concept that drives the above
two functions of today’s communication systems.

1. Repetition Code over the Binary Symmetric Channel: Suppose the transmitter uses “repeat-
by-three” channel coding, i.e., it repeats each information bit X three times to send X̄ =
{X1 = X, X2 = X, X3 = X} (i.e., X = 0 is sent as {0, 0, 0} and X = 1 is sent as {1, 1, 1})
with the goal of reducing pe compared to the no-repetition case of the last problem of Lab 3.
The resultant three-bit sequence is transmitted over the BSC(p). An example transmission
using the repetition coding is illustrated in Fig. 2.
When the transmitter sends X̄, the receiver observes a three-bit “codeword” Ȳ = [Y1 , Y2 , Y3 ]
at the output of the BSC. Note that, unlike the transmitter side where X1 = X2 = X3 = X,
there is no guarantee that Y1 = Y2 = Y3 at the receiver.1
For this problem, assume that the BSC cross-over probability p ∈ [0, 0.5], and also assume a
uniform prior on X (i.e., q = P (X = 1) = 1 − q = P (X = 0) = 0.5).2

(a) What are all possible values of X̄ that the transmitter sends, and the corresponding
values of Ȳ that the receiver can observe when X = 0 and when X = 1?
1
Note that the problem is identical to the “repeated testing of the disease” problem we have discussed in the class,
except here, the repetition is done three times instead of two. The objective of repeating the test is also identical —
reduce the probability that the test result is erroneous and thereby increase the confidence in the test outcome.
2
Which detection scheme will you use — the MAP or the ML?

1
Figure 2: A Rate r = 1/3 repetition code over the BSC. Here, the rate r denotes the ratio of the
number of information bits to the number of transmitted bits.

(b) Given a three-bit received sequence Ȳ , what should be the receiver’s rule to decide X̂.
Use your intuition to provide a non-mathemtical answer.
(c) Next, evaluate the odds in favor of X = 1 for each of the possible three-bit patterns Ȳ
that can be received at the receiver. For each Ȳ , set X̂ = 1 if the odds exceed 1.
(d) Compare your intuitive answer with the mathematically-derived answer.
(e) Determine the mathematical expression of pe for this repetition decoder.
(f) Using the insights from your answers, generalize to “Repeat-by-n” channel coding scheme,
where n is an odd integer.
(g) A Matlab program and an Excel is given to you for evaluating the conditional entropy
and the information transfer over a BSC(p) channel without repetition. Extend either
Matlab or Excel to evaluate the conditional entropy and the information transfer for the
repetition coding. For the sake of simplicity in your calculations, assume n = 2, i.e., the
transmit bit X is repeated twice.

2. A BPSK Modulated Symbol over the Additive Gaussian Noise (AGN) Channel: Suppose
that the modulator of a communication system uses Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK). A
simplified, but valid, model of the BPSK is that bit X = 1 is transmitted using a voltage of
s volts (s > 0), whereas bit X = 0 is transmitted using −s volts. Effectively, the transmitter
does a phase shift of 180o , i.e., it multiplies s by −1, for sending bit X = 0.
Suppose the transmitted signal travels over an additive noise channel (additive in voltages)
that adds a zero mean Gaussian distributed noise signal with voltage n and variance σn2 . Due
to the additive nature of the noise channel, the received signal voltage r is given as follows:
(
s + n, if X = 1 is transmitted
r=
−s + n, if X = 0 is transmitted

2
 For the case when X = 1 is transmitted, the conditional PDF of r, i.e., pr (r | X = 1) is the
Gaussian PDF3 with mean s and variance σn2 . Similarly, pr (r | X = 0) is the Gaussian PDF
with mean −s and variance σn2 . Assume uniform priors, i.e., p(X = 1) = p(X = 0) = 0.5.
Answer the following analytically.

(a) Bayes’ Receiver: determine the odds in favor of X = 1 when the receiver gets a voltage
r. For what values of r should the receiver decide that X = 1 is transmitted?
(b) Suppose an alternate method, called minimum distance receiver, is used for design of
the receiver. In this method, X = 1 is decided to have been transmitted if the absolute
difference (equivalent to Euclidean distance) between r and s volts is smaller than that
between r volts and −s volts. For what values of r should the receiver decide that X = 1
is transmitted?
(c) How do your answers to the above two compare?

(r − s)2
r  
3 1
Specifically, p(r | X = 1) = exp − .
2πσn2 2σn2