Effect of interference on a wireless link with frequency hopping

We study the performance of a fixed frequency hopping (FH) wireless system that transmits traffic over a wireless link that is subject to random interference. The system consists of an access device that buffers traffic to transmission over N FH channels. Bit errors on the FH channels are controlled by a hybrid ARQ/FEC protocol. We analyze the effect of interference on traffic blocking and delay at the access device. To alleviate the effect of interference on traffic performance, we investigate the use of FEC as well as a simple dynamic frequency hopping (DFH) strategy that allows the transmitter to avoid hopping to the bad channels. We present numerical results that quantify the adverse effect of interference on traffic blocking and delay, as the hopping frequency is varied. In addition, the results indicate that FEC is effective in improving traffic performance, and the effect of interference on traffic performance can even be eliminated by a DFH strategy.