Information Theory Analysis of Blind Detection for PCMA Satellite Communication Systems

Paired Carrier Multiple Access (PCMA) is widely used in bandwidth limited satellite network systems for its high frequency efficiency and compatibility with existing communication methods. With blind detection for PCMA signal being an important topic, various blind detection methods for PCMA signals with specific properties have been proposed. However, information theory analysis is still required for general blind detection method design. This paper introduces information theoretical bound for blind detection using a simulation based computation method, and applies a Viterbi detection method to verify the bound. Given a PCMA signal, the information theoretical bound helps to evaluate whether blind detection is possible, and guides how to design specific blind detection methods efficiently. Simulation result shows how mutual information carried by PCMA signal of the communicating peers is influenced by signal fading, propagation delay and other parameters numerically.