This paper presents a general formulation of piecewise linear (PWL) models of voltage transfer functions to characterize channel nonlinearities in satellite digital communication systems. This formulation provides a tractable approach to evaluate the performance of such systems with band-limited PWL limiters, channel blanking, and hardlimiters. The envelope characteristics of the PWL models are derived in terms of breakpoints and slopes of PWL segments. Intermodulation (IM) products, their statistical properties, and the resultant error probability performance of such BPSK systems, subject to CW interference, are numerically illustrated through these PWL models.

Presented here are a model and the analysis for evaluating bit error probability of a BPSK signal transmitted through a band-limited piecewise linear (PWL) limited satellite channel subject to continuous wave (CW) interference as well as additive Gaussian noise. The CW interference is assumed to have a random phase over (0, 2\pi) and a fixed frequency fjwhich may be either in or out of the signal band. The analysis is carried out by first formulating a conditional error probability on the uplink channel noise and the CW interference phase and then averaging over the appropriate random variables through conventional Gaussian quadrature formulas and the moment technique used in [2]. Numerical results for the error rate performance are compared to those of hard-limited channels. The results indicate that a PWL limited channel outperforms a hard-limited channel when the out-of-band CW interference power is close to or greater than the desired signal.

This paper presents the results of the modeling and analysis of the bit error probability performance of pseudonoise (PN) spread-spectrum satellite communication systems subject to the worst case continuous wave (CW) tone interference. The mathematical model for the band-limited nonlinear satellite repeater is formulated and the bit error probability is evaluated using classical moment techniques. Accordingly, this paper develops a simple scheme for computing the required moments and for efficient utilization of the moment approach to the evaluation of bit error probability performance. In addition, new numerical results are given for situations of practical interests.

This paper presents the analysis and evaluation of bit error probabilities of coherent MPSK nonlinear satellite communication systems, in which there is uplink noise, downlink noise, and CW tone interference with random phase uniformly distributed over the interval [0, 2π]. The evaluation of bit probabilities also includes intersymbol interference whose statistical distribution is constructed through a two-dimensional moment technique. This moment technique is as effective and accurate as the standard Gauss quadrature formulas (GQF), yet more versatile than GQF for evaluating an expectation over random variables. Some numerical examples for the performance of satellite channels are illustrated.

This correspondence is to point out an error that appeared in the paper (ibid., vol. COM-27, pp. 596-603, Mar. 1979), which claims that the expression of eq. (2) is the first zonal output signal of the piece-wise linear limiter. However, the performance analysis and curves are still valid for the types of soft limiters whose first zonal characteristic is described by eq. (2) of the paper.

We evaluate and compare bit error rates for conventional (linear and nonlinear) repeater satellites and regenerative satellites. This work is based on a new formulation for error rates using the generalized moment technique for numerical evaluation of error rates. Both coherent MPSK and noncoherent MFSK modulations are considered with regenerative satellites. The results show that regenerative satellites are especially effective against uplink CW interference when on-board despreading of spread spectrum signals is included as part of the satellite processing.