A hybrid-ARQ protocol with optimal adaptive error control for multidestination satellite communications

In this paper, a go-back-N hybrid-ARQ protocol, which is a BCH code adaptively concatenated with a rate repetition convolutional code with the Viterbi decoding for satellite communications over broadcast channels, is proposed. The BCH code is used for error correction and simultaneously for error detection, and the convolutional code with the Viterbi decoding is used only for error correction. A dynamic programming technique is applied to adaptively select the optimal encoding method for a frame to be transmitted. Analyses and simulations show that the proposed protocol provides satisfactory throughput efficiency under mean and high error rate conditions, especially in environments with a large number of receivers and a large link round trip delay