Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

Monsoon semester 2022,

Topic: Time Diversity

Vinay Joseph

NIT Calicut

October 9, 2023

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Plan for studying fading channel and recap
Key problem: how to send and receive bits using a wireless channel?

Step 1: Additive White Gaussian Noise channel without fading

y [m] = x[m] + w [m]
▶ pe ∝ e −SNR possible (approximately).
Step 2: Flat-fading channel (i.e., single tap)
y [m] = h[m]x[m] + w [m]
1
▶ Only pe ∝ SNR possible with single signal path =⇒ high SNR needed
for low pe
▶ Can diversity (multiple independent signal paths) help? We explore this
in next few lectures.
▶ This lecture focuses on time diversity.

Step 3: More general frequency-selective channel (i.e., multi-tap)

X
y [m] = hl [m]x[m − l] + w [m]
l

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Recap: Design and analysis of communication scheme

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Time diversity: Introduction

Deep fades can result in lost information if sending information relies

on reliability of each symbol. Example:
▶ Consider coherent detection for flat fading channel:
y [m] = h[m]x[m] + w [m] where x[m] = +a for sending ’1’ and
x[m] = −a forn sending ’0’ (BPSK).
o
2 1
▶ A deep-fade, |h[m]| < SNR , in slot m significantly increases error
probability for information sent in slot m.
Time diversity involves dispersing information over symbols spanning
multiple coherence periods so that they undergo independent fades.
Example
▶ For sending ’1’, send x[m] = +a in 3 symbols.
▶ For sending ’0’, send x[m] = −a in 3 symbols.
▶ This repetition provides additional resilience against a single deep-fade.
We start by studying time diversity via Repetition Coding.

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Time diversity: Setting

Flat fading channel

Transmitter transmits a codeword x = [x1 , ..., xL ]t of length L symbols
▶ L: number of diversity branches
Received signal:
yl = hl xl + wl , l = 1, ..., L.
w1 ,..., wL : i.i.d. CN (0, N0 ) random variables
h1 ,..., hL : assumed to be independent
▶ Recall that diversity relies different symbols of a codeword experiencing
independent fading gains.
▶ How can we assume independence in channels with coherence time
spanning multiple symbols (i.e., fading taps are correlated across
multiple symbols).
▶ This is achieved via interleaving.

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Time diversity: Interleaving
Interleaving allows us to realize diversity even in a channel with coherence
time spanning multiple symbols, as illustrated in the figure from [1]

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Time diversity: Repetition Coding
Repetition Code: Set xl = x1 for l = 1, ..., L in slide 5 setting
Received signal y = [y1 , ..., yL ]t (see slide 5):

y = h x1 + w
h = [h1 , ..., hL ]t
▶ h1 ,..., hL : i.i.d. CN (0, 1) random variables
▶ Assume that interleaving ensures the independence
w = [w1 , ..., wL ]t
▶ w1 ,..., wL : i.i.d. CN (0, N0 ) random variables
Example for L = 3 (i.e., 3 diversity branches)
▶ x1 = +a or x1 = −a, and
     
y1 h1 w1
y2  = h2  x1 + w2 
y3 h3 w3

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Repetition Coding: Rules for coherent detection
Reuse approach from previous lecture’s coherent detection of using
scalar sufficient statistic, and then reusing AWGN channel analysis
Convert/simplify vector (y ) detection problem into scalar (r )
detection problem:
h
 ∗ 
r =R y
∥h ∥
Note that
h∗ h∗
y = ∥h ∥x1 + w
∥h ∥ ∥h ∥
where we use
h∗ h∗h ∥h ∥2
(h x1 ) = x1 = x1 = ∥h ∥x1
∥h ∥ ∥h ∥ ∥h ∥
Simplified detection problem where we can reuse AWGN approach:
r = ∥h ∥x1 + w̃
w̃ = R {(h ∗ /∥h ∥)w } ∼ N (0, N0 /2)
Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication
 Repetition Coding: Maximal Ratio Combiner

When using Repetition Coding at transmitter with BPSK (x1 = ±a),

receiver can perform coherent detection using Maximal Ratio
Combiner (MRC)as follows:
1 Determine received signal vector y using L received signal samples

⋆ The samples may be consecutive in time or interleaved

2 Obtain h corresponding to slots of those samples
3 Compute
h
 ∗ 
r =R y
∥h ∥
⋆ The above step is also known as Maximal Ratio Combining or Coherent
Combining, and the above operation also called Matched Filter.
⋆ Weight of each diversity branch is proportional signal strength and
aligns phases of signals in summation, to maximize output SNR
4 Decide as follows:
⋆ Decide that x1 = +a if r ≥ 0
⋆ Decide that x1 = −a if r < 0

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Repetition Coding with MRC: Probability of error
You can show that, for a given h , probability of error for MRC with
BPSK is given by

a2
q 
P {error|h } = Q 2∥h ∥ SNR , where SNR =
2
N0

▶ Approach used is similar to analysis of coherent detection (which in

turn is based on AWGN analysis)
Probability of error
 q 
pe = E [P {error|h }] = E Q 2∥h ∥ SNR
2

h  i
≤ E exp −∥h ∥2 SNR

2 /2
where the last step uses Gaussian tail’s property: Q(a) ≤ e −a

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Repetition Coding with MRC: Probability of error
∥h ∥2 has following PDF:
1
f (x) = x L−1 e −x , x ≥ 0
(L − 1)!

hl ∼ CN (0, 1) for each l, and ∥h ∥ = l=1 |hl |

2 PL 2
▶

Hence, ∥h ∥ is sum of squares of 2L independent real Gaussian r.v.s

2
▶

∥h ∥ is Chi-square distributed with 2L degrees of freedom

2
▶

Hence,
h  i
pe ≤ E exp −∥h ∥2 SNR
Z ∞
1
= exp (−SNRx) x L−1 e −x dx
x=0 (L − 1)!
1
=
(1 + SNR)L
where the last step can be derived using Integration by Parts formula,
or using Gamma Function formula.
Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication
 Repetition Coding with MRC: Time diversity gain
Probability of error when using Repetition Coding with MRC satisfies:
1 1
pe ≤ ∝
(1 + SNR)L SNR L
Recall that without diversity, probability of error scaled as
1
pe,no−diversity ∝
SNR
This improvement is visible in figure from [1]:

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Repetition Coding with MRC: Explaining diversity gain via
deep fade likelihood
Consider the following event which is equivalent to ”deep fade” even
we considered without diversity:
 
1
P ∥h ∥ <2
SNR

Recall that ∥h ∥2 is distributed as

1 1
f (x) = x L−1 e −x ≈ x L−1 , for small x
(L − 1)! (L − 1)!
Hence,
  Z 1
1 SNR 1 1 1
P ∥h ∥ <2
≈ x L−1 dx =
SNR 0 (L − 1)! L! SNR L
Thus, here too, probability of deep fade and probability of error scales
similarly with SNR.
Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication
 Time diversity: Better than Repetition Coding

For L = 2, Repetition Coding just repeats the same BPSK symbol

twice, i.e., only one bit is sent every two slots.
While it provides diversity gain, there are ways to realize a coding
gain also by transmitting more bits while retaining some of the time
diversity.
Time diversity and coding gains can be realized using Rotation Code.
▶ Rotation code essentially transmits some information related to each of
the two bits in each of two symbols.

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 Takeaways
Without diversity, probability of error for a fading channel scales as:
1
pe,no−diversity ∝
SNR
Repetition Coding provides Time Diversity, and its probability of error
with MRC for a fading channel scales as:
1
pe ∝
SNR L
MRC involves the following operation:

h
 ∗ 
r =R y
∥h ∥

For realizing time diversity in channels with long coherence periods,

interleaving of coded symbols is useful.

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication

 References

Tse, D., Viswanath, P. (2005). Fundamentals of Wireless

Communication. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Vinay Joseph (NIT Calicut) Lecture 12 Wireless Communication