Performance of Space-Time Block Coding in Powerline and Satellite Communications

Abstract

In this paper Space-Time Block Coding (STBC) is examined in powerline and satellite communications, comparing the gains that this coding-modulation technique provides to these communications systems. The powerline environment is assumed to be a frequency-selective, multipath fading environment with Additive White Class A Noise (AWCN), which is used to model the actual powerline noise characteristics. The satellite channel for urban area, modeled as a combination of Rayleigh and log-normal processes with the presence of Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) is also studied. System efficiency is enhanced by the application of Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), convolutional coding and block interleaving and the performance of different Phase Shift Keying (PSK) modulation schemes under the imposed channel conditions is investigated. The performance of the system is assessed by the commonly used Bit Error Rate (BER) vs. Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) diagrams and there is also a comparison regarding the throughput efficiency among the examined systems. As stated in the results section, STBC can be used in powerline and satellite communications providing remarkable results, comparable to those in terrestrial wireless communications where STBC is nowadays a rather mature technique