Error bounds for trellis-coded MPSK on a fading mobile satellite channel

Analytical performance bounds are presented for trellis-coded MPSK, transmitted over a satellite-based land mobile channel. Upper bounds are evaluated using the well-known transfer function bounding technique, and lower bounds are achieved through knowledge of exact pairwise error probabilities. In order to analyze practical trellis-codes (four or more states), the uniform properties displayed by a certain class of trellis-codes are exploited, enabling the encoder transfer function to be obtained from a modified state transition diagram, having no more states than the encoder itself. Monte Carlo simulation results are presented in confirmation of all performance bounds and indicate a general weakness in the transfer function upper bounds. A new asymptotically tight upper bound is derived based on a simple modification to the standard transfer function bound, and results are presented for the four- and eight-state trellis-codes in Rician and Rayleigh fading