DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS /

COMMUNICATIONS 2
 Chapter 8
Error Detection

■ Subtopics: 1) Parity and VRC, LRC, and CRC, 2) Bit Error Rate and
Probability of Error
■ At the end of the chapter, the learner should be able to:
– Familiarize the algorithm of parity, VRC, LRC, and CRC for error detection
– Solve problems involving Bit Error Rate, Probability of Error, and other
parameters
 Bit Error Rate and
Probability of Error
Subtopic #2
Probability of error P(e) and bit error rate (BER) are
often used interchangeably, although in practice they do
have slightly different meanings.

P(e) is a theoretical (mathematical) expectation of the bit

error rate for a given system.

BER is an empirical (historical) record of a system’s actual bit

error performance.
Consider the following scenarios:

If P(e) = 10-5, then you can expect one-bit error in every

100,000 bits transmitted (10-5 = 1/100,000) [expectation]

If BER = 10-5, then it means that in the past performance

there was one-bit error for every 100,000 bits transmitted.
[measure]
• A function of the carrier-to-noise power ratio (or, more
specifically, the average energy per bit-to-noise power
density ratio) and the number of possible encoding
conditions used (M-ary)
 C(watts)
• Carrier Power: C(dBm) = 10log
0.001

kTB
• Noise Power: N(dBm) = 10log
0.001

• Carrier-to-Noise Power Ratio:

C C C C
= (unitless) (dB) = 10log = C(dBm) − N(dBm)
N kTB N N
 Energy per bit Noise Power Density

Eb = CTb (J/bit) N
N0 = (W/Hz)
Eb(dBJ ) = 10log Eb B
N0(dBm) = NdBm − 10log B
C
Eb = (J/bit) kTB
fB N0 = = kT (W/Hz)
C B
Eb = 10log (dBJ)
fB
Energy per bit-to-Noise power density Ratio

C
Eb fB CB Eb C B
= = (dB) = (dB) + (dB)
N N0 N fB
N0 fBN
B = 10log Eb − 10log N0
Eb C B
=  E /N is a figure of merit used to compare two or more digital
N0 N fB b 0
modulation systems that use different transmission bit rates.
PSK MODULATION QAM MODULATION FSK MODULATION
Additional Examples
For a QPSK system and the given parameters,
C = 10^-11 W bit rate = 70 kbps
N = 1 x 10^-13 W B = 140 kHz

Determine:
(a) Carrier power in dBm
(b) Noise power in dBm
(c) Noise power density in dBm
(d) Energy per bit in dBJ
(e) Carrier-to-noise power ratio in dB
(f) Energy per bit-to-noise power density in dB
Error Correction
• Retransmission (ARQ)
• Resending a message when it is received in error.
• The receive terminal automatically calls for retransmission of
the entire message.

• Forward Error Correction (FEC)

• Addition of redundant information embedded in the data set in
order that the receiving device can detect errors and correct for
them without requiring a retransmission.
• Most common technique is Hamming Code.
• An error correcting code that allows single-bit error to
be detected and corrected without any need for
retransmission.

𝟐𝒏 ≥ 𝒎 + 𝒏 + 𝟏
where
n = number of Hamming bits
m = number of bits in the data character
How many Hamming bits are required for a data
character of 26 message bits?

Answer: 5 bits
• The number of bit position in which two codeword
differs.

• To detect d single-bit errors, you need a Hamming

distance of d+1 code.

• To correct d single-bit errors, you need a Hamming

distance of 2d+1 code.
Calculate the Hamming distance to detect and correct 3
single-bit errors that occurred during transmission.

Answer: 4 bits, 7 bits

Find the Hamming distance of the following strings:
a. 11011001 and 10011101
b. 010, 011, 101 and 111

Answer: (a) 2, (b) 1

For a 10-bit data string of 1100011001, determine the
number of Hamming bits required and arbitrarily place
the Hamming bits into the data string, determine the
condition of each Hamming bit, assume an arbitrary
single-bit transmission error, and prove that the
Hamming code used will detect the error.
Determine the bit position where an error occurs in the
received data stream 11010011101011. The Hamming bits
are located in bit positions 2, 5, 6, and 11.
Determine the bit position where an error occurs in the
received data stream 11010011101011. The Hamming bits
are located in bit positions 2, 5, 6, and 11.

Answer: 4
[1] Ampoloquio, J. M. (2005). Self-Sufficient Guide to Electronic Communications Engineering.
[2] Beasley, Jeffrey. (2014) Electronic Communications. Pearson.
[3] Frenzel, Louis. (2016) Principles of Electronic Communication Systems. Mc Graw Hill Higher
Education. 4th Edition
[4] Gupta. (2016) An Integrated Course in Electronics and Communication Engineering. S. K. Kataria
& Sons
[5] Ha, Tri. T. (2011) Theory and Design of Digital Communication Systems. Cambridge University
Press
[6] Meadows, Jennifer H. (2018) Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals. Routledge.
[7] Rice, Michael. (2018) Digital Communications: A Discrete-Time Approach
[8] Sharma, Sanjay. (2015) Digital Communications. S. K. Kataria & Sons
[9] Sklar, Bernard. (2009) Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications. Aitbs India. 2nd
Edition
[10] Tomasi, W. (2014). Advanced Electronic Communications Systems. Harlow: Pearson Education
Limited.
QUESTIONS?
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS /
COMMUNICATIONS 2
 Chapter 8
Error Detection

■ Subtopics: 1) Parity and VRC, LRC, and CRC, 2) Bit Error Rate and
Probability of Error
■ At the end of the chapter, the learner should be able to:
– Familiarize the algorithm of parity, VRC, LRC, and CRC for error detection
– Solve problems involving Bit Error Rate, Probability of Error, and other
parameters
Parity and VRC, LRC, and CRC
Subtopic #1
1. SINGLE BIT ERROR
• only 1 bit in the data unit has changed
2. BURST ERROR
• 2 or more consecutive bits in the data unit have
changed from 1 to 0 or from 0 to 1.
• The process of monitoring the received data and
determining when an error has occurred.

• Error detection techniques do not identify which bit

(or bits) is in error, only that an error has occurred.
• Redundancy
• Vertical Redundancy Checking (VRC)
• Longitudinal Redundancy Checking (LRC)
• Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC)

• Parity
• Odd Parity
• Even Parity
• Duplicating each data unit for the purpose of detecting
errors
• an effective but rather costly means of detecting errors,
especially with long messages

D = 0011100 D = 0011100
O = 1000110 O = 1000110
G = 1100001 T = 1000101
• The simplest error detection scheme

• It is also used in VRC and LRC

• A single bit is added to each character to FORCE the

total number of 1’s in the character, including the
parity bit. Can be EVEN or ODD parity
• Adding bits for the sole purpose of detecting errors

• Types:
• Vertical Redundancy Checking (VRC)
• Longitudinal Redundancy Checking (LRC)
• Cyclic Redundancy Checking (CRC)
• Simplest error-detection scheme

• This method is also called character parity

• In this method, a redundant bit, called a parity bit, is

appended to every data unit so that the total number of
1s in the unit (including parity bit) becomes even/odd.
• Advantage:
• The primary advantage of parity is its simplicity

• Disadvantage:
• The disadvantage is that when an even number of bits are
received in error, the parity checker will not detect them
• over a long time, parity will theoretically detect only 50% of
the transmission errors
Consider the letter ‘C’ with ASCII code 43HEX which has a
binary equivalent P1000011, where P is the parity bit.

For even parity: 11000011 (new number of 1s = 4)

For odd parity: 01000011 (original number of 1s = 3)

• Uses parity to determine if a transmission error has
occurred within a message

• This method is also called message parity

• In this method, each bit position has a parity bit.

Essentially, LRC involves XOR operation per bit
position for all characters, while VRC involves XOR
operation of bits in every single character.
Generally,

• Longitudinal Redundancy Check (LRC) uses even parity

• Vertical Redundancy Check (VRC) uses odd parity

Example:
Determine the VRCs and LRC for the following ASCII-
encoded message: THE CAT. Use odd parity for the VRCs
and even parity for the LRC.
Capital Letters:
41 to 5A (Hex)
Capital Letters:
41 to 5A (Hex)
Small Letters:
61 to 7A (Hex)
Small Letters:
61 to 7A (Hex)
Numbers:
30 to 39 (Hex)
 Character T H E sp C A T LRC
HEX 54 48 45 20 43 41 54 2F
LSB b0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
b1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
b2 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 1
b3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
b4 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
b5 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
MSB b6 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 0
VRC b7 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
• Most reliable redundancy checking technique using
convolutional coding scheme (99.99%)

• Most common CRC code is CRC-16, where 16 bits is

used as block check sequence (BCS)

• Considered as systematics code, since BCS is

separate from the message but sent using the same
transmission
• Cyclic block codes are often written as (n, k) cyclic codes
where n = bit length of transmission and k = bit length of
message. Therefore, the length of the block check
character (BCC) in bits is:

BCC = n – k
a

• The CRC character is essentially the remainder of a division

process.
• Mathematical Expression of CRC:

𝑮(𝒙)
= 𝑸 𝒙 + 𝑹(𝒙)
𝑷(𝒙)
• Where:
𝐺 𝑥 = message polynomial
𝑃 𝑥 = generator polynomial
𝑄 𝑥 = quotient
𝑅 𝑥 = remainder
• For CRC-16: 𝑷 𝒙 = 𝒙𝟏𝟔 + 𝒙𝟏𝟓 + 𝒙𝟐 + 𝒙𝟎
Determine the BCS for the following data and CRC generating
polynomials:

Data: 𝐺 𝑥 = 𝑥 7 + 𝑥 5 + 𝑥 4 + 𝑥 2 + 𝑥1 + 𝑥 0
a

In binary: 10110111

CRC generator: 𝑃 𝑥 = 𝑥 5 + 𝑥 4 + 𝑥1 + 𝑥 0
a

In binary: 110011
Step 1: G(x) is multiplied by the number of bits in the CRC code.

x 5 −𝑥 7 + 𝑥 5 + 𝑥 4 + 𝑥 2 + 𝑥 1 + 𝑥 0

𝑥 12 + 𝑥 10 + 𝑥 9 + 𝑥 7 + 𝑥 6 + 𝑥 5

In binary: 1011011100000
Step 2: Result is divided by P(x)
Step 3: The CRC is appended to the data to give the following
data stream:
At the receiver, data is divided again
Additional Example
Determine the BCS for the following data and CRC generating
polynomials:

Data: 𝐺 𝑥 = 𝑥7 + 𝑥3 + 𝑥2 + 𝑥0
a

In binary:

CRC generator: 𝑃 𝑥 = 𝑥 5 + 𝑥 2 + 𝑥1 + 𝑥 0
a

In binary:
[1] Ampoloquio, J. M. (2005). Self-Sufficient Guide to Electronic Communications Engineering.
[2] Beasley, Jeffrey. (2014) Electronic Communications. Pearson.
[3] Frenzel, Louis. (2016) Principles of Electronic Communication Systems. Mc Graw Hill Higher
Education. 4th Edition
[4] Gupta. (2016) An Integrated Course in Electronics and Communication Engineering. S. K. Kataria
& Sons
[5] Ha, Tri. T. (2011) Theory and Design of Digital Communication Systems. Cambridge University
Press
[6] Meadows, Jennifer H. (2018) Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals. Routledge.
[7] Rice, Michael. (2018) Digital Communications: A Discrete-Time Approach
[8] Sharma, Sanjay. (2015) Digital Communications. S. K. Kataria & Sons
[9] Sklar, Bernard. (2009) Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications. Aitbs India. 2nd
Edition
[10] Tomasi, W. (2014). Advanced Electronic Communications Systems. Harlow: Pearson Education
Limited.
QUESTIONS?
DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS /
COMMUNICATIONS 2
 Chapter 9
Multiplexing and
Multiple Access
■ Subtopics: 1) Analog and Digital Multiplexing, 2) Multiple Access Channeling Protocols
■ At the end of the chapter, the learner should be able to:
– Define and discuss the terms & concepts of Analog and Digital multiplexing
– Define and discuss the terms and concepts of FDMA, CDMA, and TDMA
Analog and Digital Multiplexing
Subtopic #1
• Multiplexing is a technique used in communications and
input/output operations for transmitting a number of separate
signals simultaneously over a single channel or line.

• A multiplexer (sometimes called a mux) is a communications

device that multiplexes (combines) several signals for
transmission over a single physical transmission channel.
A demultiplexer completes the process by separating
multiplexed signals from a channel line at the receiver.
• A unique band of frequencies within the wideband frequency
spectrum of the medium is allotted to each communication
channel on continuous time basis.
• For FDM to work properly frequency overlap must be
avoided. A guard band is a narrow frequency range that
separates two ranges of wider frequency.
• The frequency division multiplexing does not need
synchronization between its transmitter and receiver for proper
operation.
• A large number of signals (channels) can be transmitted
simultaneously.
• Due to slow narrow band fading only a single channel gets
affected.
• The Demodulation process of frequency division multiplexing
is easy.
• All the frequency division multiplexing channels get affected
due to wideband fading.
• A large number of modulators and filters are required.
• The communication channel must have a very large
bandwidth.
• The frequency division multiplexing suffers from the problem of
crosstalk.
• Intermodulation distortion takes place.
• FDM is commonly used in TV networks.
• FDM is used for FM & AM radio broadcasting.
• First generation cellular telephone also uses FDM.
• WDM resembles FDM in that the idea to send information signals
that occupy the same frequency band of frequencies through the
same frequency band of frequencies through the same fiber at
the same time without them interfering with each other.
• Each communication channel is allotted a fixed time slot within a
sampling frame, occupying essentially the entire wideband
frequency spectrum for the allocated time.
• It Periodically generates the frame consisting of a constant number of
time slots, each time slot of constant length.
• A starting delimiter (flag) is used for frame synchronization which is
needed to next frame. Because of a flag, individual time slots can be
identified by position within the frame.
• Advantages:
• An order is maintained.
• No addressing information is required channel capacity should be large.

• Disadvantages:
• Higher bit rate is required.
• If no input signal is present at one channel since a fixed time slot is
assigned to each channel, that time slot for that channel does not carry
any information and there is wastage of bandwidth
• When data from different channels is not available at fixed predetermined
rates rather it is available at the rates which are statistically determined,
then their multiplexing is known as asynchronous time division
multiplexing or statistical time division multiplexing.
• Advantages:
• TDM circuitry is not very complex.
• Communication link of low capacity is used.
• Full available channel bandwidth can be utilized for each channel.
• Intermodulation distortion is absent

• Disadvantages:
• Frames have different sizes
• Requires buffer
• Address information is needed
 Multiple Access
Channeling Protocols
Subtopic #2
• Multiple access schemes are used to allow many mobile
users to share simultaneously a finite amount of radio
spectrum.

• Utilizes multiplexing to allow multiple users to communicate

over a single common channel. In other words, Multiple
Access is the application of multiplexing.
• A method of multiple mobile
stations accessing technique
where a given radio frequency
band is divided into similar
frequency bands
• Each mobile station is allotted
a fixed time slot (called epoch)
within a TDMA frame,
occupying essentially the entire
wideband frequency spectrum
for the allocated time.
• Referred to as Spread
Spectrum Multiple Access;
transmission can spread
throughout the entire allocated
bandwidth. Each mobile
station’s transmission is
encoded with a unique binary
word called Chip Code
• A frequency generator is used which
generates a carrier that changes in
frequency many times a second
according to a programmed
sequenced channels known as
pseudo-random noise sequence.
• If the sequence is not known, the
frequencies appear to hop about
unpredictably.
• Direct sequence systems inject pseudo-random noise (PN) into the bit
stream that has a much higher rate than the actual data to be
communicated.
• The data to be transmitted is combined with the PN. Most direct-sequence
systems use a chirping rate of at least ten times the bit rate.
A signal would have a bandwidth of 200 kHz and a
signal-to-noise ratio of 20 dB if transmitted without
spreading. It is spread using a chipping rate of 50:1.
Calculate its bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio after
spreading.
A signal would have a bandwidth of 200 kHz and a
signal-to-noise ratio of 20 dB if transmitted without
spreading. It is spread using a chipping rate of 50:1.
Calculate its bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio after
spreading.

Answer: 10 MHz, 3.0103 dB

[1] Ampoloquio, J. M. (2005). Self-Sufficient Guide to Electronic Communications Engineering.
[2] Beasley, Jeffrey. (2014) Electronic Communications. Pearson.
[3] Frenzel, Louis. (2016) Principles of Electronic Communication Systems. Mc Graw Hill Higher Education. 4th Edition
[4] Frequency Division Multiplexing | Advantages & Applications. (2020, March 29). Retrieved from Electricalvoice:
https://electricalvoice.com/frequency-division-multiplexing-working
[5] Gupta. (2016) An Integrated Course in Electronics and Communication Engineering. S. K. Kataria & Sons
[6] Ha, Tri. T. (2011) Theory and Design of Digital Communication Systems. Cambridge University Press
[7] Meadows, Jennifer H. (2018) Communication Technology Update and Fundamentals. Routledge.
[8] Rice, Michael. (2018) Digital Communications: A Discrete-Time Approach
[9] Sharma, Sanjay. (2015) Digital Communications. S. K. Kataria & Sons
[10] Sklar, Bernard. (2009) Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications. Aitbs India. 2nd Edition
[11] Time Division Multiplexing | Types & Advantages. (2020, March 8). Retrieved from Electricalvoice:
https://electricalvoice.com/time-division-multiplexing-types-advantages#Time_Division_Multiplexing
[12] Tomasi, W. (2014). Advanced Electronic Communications Systems. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
QUESTIONS?