Optimum Modulation and Channel Filters for Nonlinear Satellite Channels

This is a comparative study of three modulation schemes: QPSK, Offset QPSK(OQPSK), and MSK, in nonlinear satellite channels with adjacent channel interference. Two kinds of typical satellite channel models are used for performance evaluation: one is an INTELSAT type narrow band model and the other is a domestic type wide band model. The transmitter filter and receiver filter are optimized for each combination of modulation scheme, channel model, and an input back-off condition for nonlinear amplifiers. All the combinations considered here have the optimum division of the Nyquist shaping between transmitter filter and receiver filter in common. The filters are a wide band sharp cut-off transmitter filter with flat inband response and a gently rolled-off Nyquist receiver filter with an aperture equalizer ( x/\sin x or 1-(2x)^{2}/\cos x equalizer). With these optimized filters, comparisons are made with respect to the bit error rate (BER) performance and phase jitter of the recovered carrier. OQPSK and MSK show superior BER performance to QPSK in the wide band model. However, in the narrow band model, QPSK shows the best BER performance among the three modulation schemes. The phase jitter in the recovered carrier is small for all modulation schemes in the wide band model. But, in the narrow band model, the phase jitter in OQPSK and MSK is four times larger than in QPSK. Generally QPSK is the most preferable modulation scheme in the narrow band model: OQPSK and MSK are most preferable for the wide band model.