Radio Altimeter Interference Modelling, Evaluation

and Coding Mitigation Strategies for an OFDM-

based WAIC system
Luca Manica Marco Carloni
2022 IEEE/AIAA 41st Digital Avionics Systems Conference (DASC) | 978-1-6654-8607-1/22/$31.00 ©2022 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/DASC55683.2022.9925859

Applied Research and Technology Applied Research and Technology

Collins Aerospace Collins Aerospace
Trento, Italy Rome, Italy
[email protected] [email protected]

Abstract— The paper analyzes the impact of radio altimeter implementing beamforming techniques with null placing in
(RA) echoes on the signal collected by a Wireless Avionics Intra- the direction of arrival of the interferences [13][14], or
Communication (WAIC) system installed on an aircraft. It frequency hopping techniques for finding interference-free
characterizes the RA echoes with respect to power, occupied portions of the spectrum [15]. Unfortunately, WAIC systems
bandwidth and time occurrence for an aircraft flying at must be compliant with severe restrictions in terms of power
different altitudes and over different terrain typologies. The emission; high gain antenna needs big installation space;
information is used for understanding the impact of RA signals beamforming requires a phased array as antenna system and
on the performance of an outdoor WAIC system. Channel
additional sensing and control algorithm for interference
coding techniques for forward error correction are evaluated as
direction-of-arrival estimation [16][17] and null placing [18].
interference mitigation strategies.
Finally, frequency hopping benefits are limited in a crowd
Keywords — Radio Altimeter, Wireless Avionics Intra- electromagnetic environment.
Communication, Electromagnetic Interference, Channel Coding. To overcome all those drawbacks and enhance link
robustness in a simple and effective way, channel coding
I. INTRODUCTION techniques as Forward Error Correction (FEC) [19] shall be
A Wireless Avionics Intra-Communication (WAIC) considered. FEC techniques add redundancy to the transmitted
system is defined as one or many wireless communication (raw) data, reducing the net communication throughput but
links between two or more points on a single aircraft [1]. The proving the capability to correct erroneous bits at the receiver
deployment of WAIC as a standard into avionics sensing and side, so avoiding data retransmission. This is particularly
control networks promises reducing weight and fuel helpful in low latency applications where even a single packet
consumption, decreasing installation and maintenance costs retransmission may violate the operating requirement.
while increasing flexibility and providing easily dissimilar However, the selection and parametrization of the proper FEC
redundancy in the communication links with respect to technique need an accurate analysis of the Electromagnetic
traditional wired systems [2]. WAIC systems work in the Interference (EMI) problem [20] between WAIC systems and
4200-4400 [MHz] frequency band, the same allocated to the the radio altimeter.
radio altimeter (RA) [3]. The RA is an airborne safety-critical In accordance, the paper is organized as follows: Section
system that provides the altitude of an aircraft with respect to II analyses the RA signal and its power as interference for a
ground [4]. Accordingly, accurate and intensive studies have WAIC system installed in proximity. Section III describes
been carried out for assuring WAIC systems will not cause Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signal,
any malfunctioning to the radio altimeter [5][6][7]. Moreover, it focuses on IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ah frame
preliminary design and deployment of WAIC systems have structure, and it provides a mathematical formulation for
been limited to indoor communication (i.e., within the aircraft computing the power received by a WAIC node located at
cabin) and for not-safety critical data exploiting the aircraft different distances from the transmitter. The information
structure as electromagnetic shield [8]. In such a framework, acquired in Section II and Section III is exploited in Section
the effort of academy and industry has been focused also on IV for evaluating the impact of RA echoes on IEEE 802.11n
providing statistical wireless channel models [9][10] as well and 802.11ah frames. Section V introduces three different
as technological solutions based on IEEE 802.15.4, Bluetooth, channel coding techniques namely Binary Convolutional
and IEEE 802.11 [2][11]. Codes [21], Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes
However, WAIC can be fully beneficial if applied to [22][23] and Turbo Codes [24] and it evaluates their
outdoor, safety-critical communication, too [12]. When performance in mitigating the RA interference. Finally, some
installed outside the aircraft cabin, a safety critical WAIC conclusions are drawn in Section VI.
system must be robust with respect to radio altimeter
interference to guarantee the reliability, the latency and the II. RADIO ALTIMETER SIGNAL ANALYSIS
throughput required by the application. Different techniques A radio altimeter (RA) is an airborne electronic system
can be exploited for mitigating the impact of interference and devoted to providing an accurate height measurement above
so enhancing the wireless link quality: increasing the the Earth surface during all the flight phases. There are two
transmitted power, deploying high gain antennas, different types of radio altimeters currently in use: pulsed or
This research has been funded by the European Union’s Clean Sky 2 Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW). A pulsed
Research and Innovation program ICO-Brake under grant No. 945535.

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radar determines the aircraft altitude measuring the time of ାஶ

flight of the radar echoes, whereas FMCW radars compute ܵ௖௖ ሺ݂ሻ ൌ න ܴ௖௖ ሺ߬ሻ݁ ି௝ଶగ௙ఛ ݀߬ (2)
range and speed information by detecting the frequency
ିஶ
difference between the transmitted and received signal [25]. being ܵ௖௖ ሺ݂ሻthe Fourier Transform of the autocorrelation
The EMI problem considers only FMCW radio altimeters as function of the chirp ܿሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ signal, ܴ௖௖ , determined as:
interference source. The analysis evaluates the power and the ାஶ
power density of radio altimeter echoes as interference for a (3)
ܴ௖௖ ሺ߬ሻ ൌ න ܿሺ‫ݐ‬ሻܿሺ‫ ݐ‬൅ ߬ሻ݀߬
WAIC node located close to the radio altimeter antenna.
ିஶ

A. Radio Altimeter Transmitted Signal

A FMCW radar emits periodic pulses whose frequency
varies linearly in time, called chirps. A chirp is a sinusoid
signal which frequency increases (up-chirp) or decreases
(down-chirp) linearly with time and it is periodically repeated
by a chirp period (or duration) ܶ௖ . The radio altimeter exploits
a linear frequency modulated signal defined as [26]:
ʹ‫ܤ‬௖ ܶ௖
‫ܣ ۓ‬଴ ‘• ൤ʹߨ ൬݂௠௜௡ ൅ ‫ݐ‬൰ ‫ݐ‬൨ Ͳ ൑ ‫ ݐ‬൑
ۖ ܶ௖ ʹ
ܿሺ‫ݐ‬ሻ ൌ (1)
‫ •‘ ܣ۔‬൥ʹߨ ൭݂ ʹ‫ܤ‬ ௖ ܶ ௖ ܶ ௖
ۖ ଴ ௠௔௫ െ ൬‫ ݐ‬െ ൰൱ ‫ݐ‬൩ ൏ ‫ ݐ‬൑ ܶ௖ 
‫ە‬ ܶ௖ ʹ ʹ

being ‫ܣ‬଴ the chirp amplitude, ݂௠௜௡  the minimal chirp

frequency, ‫ܤ‬௖ ൌ ݂௠௔௫ െ ݂௠௜௡  the chirp bandwidth with
݂௠௔௫  maximal chirp frequency. Additionally, the central
chirp frequency ݂௖ is defined as ݂௖ ൌ ሺ݂௠௔௫ ൅ ݂௠௜௡ ሻȀʹ . Fig. 2 Power spectral density (positive frequencies) of the chirp signals
Finally, the sign ൅ refers to up-chirps whereas the sign Ȃ with parameters reported in TABLE I
refers to down-chirp signals. Fig. 1 provides a graphical
representation of chirp signa frequency vs time. The Fig. 2 shows the power spectral density for the two
frequency is swept from ݂௠௜௡ to ݂௠௔௫ in ܶ௖ Ȁʹseconds and it different RA typologies described in TABLE I. The power
returns to the initial frequency, ݂௠௜௡ in the remaining part of spectral density is almost flat over the chirp bandwidth ‫ܤ‬௖ ; in
the sweep time. Typical parameters of the chirp waveform accordance, a rough approximation for the power density is:
used by radio altimeters are reported in TABLE I [4]. ோ஺
்ܲ௑ ‫ܤ‬௖ ‫ܤ‬௖
ܵ௖௖ ሺ݂ሻ ൌ ቐ ‫ܤ‬௖ Ǣ݂௖ െ ʹ ൑ ݂ ൑ ݂௖ ൅ ʹ  (4)
Ͳ‫݁ݏ݅ݓݎ݄݁ݐ݋‬
ோ஺
being ்ܲ௑ the total power of the RA chirp, ‫ܤ‬௖ the chirp
bandwidth and ݂௖ the central frequency.
B. Radio Altimeter Echo as WAIC System Interferent
In our EMI model, the WAIC node collects a portion of all
the radio altimeters echoes, only, and not the transmitted radio
altimeter direct chirps. Accordingly, the computation of the
interface power is recast as the determination of the power
collected by a RA opportunely scaled so considering different
WAIC antennas and installation locations. Those assumptions
simplify the mathematical formulation and make it general to
Fig. 1 Chirp frequency vs time representation include the worst-case scenario, too.
Referring to the geometry described by Fig. 3 the
TABLE I. RADIO ALTIMETER CHIRP PARAMETERS interference power received by a WAIC node when the
Radio Radio
aircraft is flying at altitude ݄, ‫ܫ‬ሺ݄ሻ is the radar return terrain
Parameter power from the area ‫ ܣ‬illuminated by the radio altimeter
Altimeter 1 Altimeter 2
Nominal center frequency, ݂௖ ͶǤ͵ሾ‫ݖܪܩ‬ሿ ͶǤ͵ሾ‫ݖܪܩ‬ሿ
signal and collected by the WAIC node antenna. In
accordance with [28] and under the assumptions the radio
Transmitted power, ோ஺
்ܲ௑ ͲǤ͸ሾܹሿ ͳǤͲሾܹሿ altimeter antenna has a symmetrical pattern, and the
Chirp bandwidth, ‫ܤ‬஼ ͳͲͶሾ‫ݖܪܯ‬ሿ ͳ͵ʹǤͺሾ‫ݖܪܯ‬ሿ illuminated surface is a uniform terrain [29]:
ఏಹುಳೈ Ȁଶ ଶగ
Chirp Period, ܶ௖ ͳͻǤ͸ሾ݉‫ܿ݁ݏ‬ሿ ͸Ǥ͸͹ሾ݉‫ܿ݁ݏ‬ሿ ோ஺ ଶ
்ܲ௑ ߣ௖ ‫ܩ‬ோ஺ ሺߠሻߪ଴ ሺߠሻ
‫ܫ‬ሺ݄ሻ ൌ ‫ܩ‬ ߟ න න ݀‫ܣ‬ (5)
ሺͶߨሻଷ ௐ஺ூ஼ ‫ ݎ‬ସ ሺߠǡ ݄ሻ
ିఏಹುಳೈ Ȁଶ ଴
The distribution of the chirp power over the different
frequency components is the power spectral density In (5), ߣ௖ ൌ ܿ଴ Ȁ݂௖ is the signal wavelength with ܿ଴ speed of
computed as [27]: light in the vacuum and ݂௖ the central working frequency of
ோ஺
the RA. Moreover, ்ܲ௑  is the power transmitted by the RA

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(constant), ‫ܩ‬ோ஺ ሺߠሻ the antenna gain of the RA, ‫ܩ‬ௐ஺ூ஼ the Fig. 4 plots the power received by the WAIC node
maximal antenna gain of the WAIC node, ‫ݎ‬is the distance antenna in the different operating scenarios whereas TABLE
between the RA antenna and a point lying on ‫ܣ‬, ݀‫ ܣ‬is the III collects the values of the interference power ‫ ܫ‬as well as
infinitesimal area element and ߠு௉஻ௐ the half-power the values of the interference power density ܵ௜௜ ሺ݂ሻ
beamwidth of the RA antenna. The integral is evaluated over computed substituting the results of (5) in (4):
ߠ ‫ א‬ሾെߠு௉஻ௐ ȀʹǢߠு௉஻ௐ Ȁʹሿ and ߶ ‫ א‬ሾͲǡ ʹߨሿǤ The ‫ܫ‬ ‫ܤ‬௖ ‫ܤ‬௖
normalized radar cross section per unit area of terrain ߪ଴ Ǣ݂௖ െ ൑ ݂ ൑ ݂௖ ൅
ܵ௜௜ ሺ݂ሻ ൌ ൝ ‫ܤ‬௖ ʹ ʹ  (8)
depends only by the grazing angle ߰ ൌ ߨȀʹ െ ߠ as [30]:
Ͳ‫݁ݏ݅ݓݎ݄݁ݐ݋‬
ߪ଴ ൌ ߛ •‹ ߰ (6) being ‫ܫ‬the power of the RA echo collected by the WAIC
being ߛ the normalized reflectivity parameter. The antenna node, ‫ܤ‬௖ and ݂௖ the chirp bandwidth and chirp central
gain for the radio altimeter is modelled as: frequency, respectively. As expected, the highest power level
occurs when the aircraft is flying over an urban terrain (higher
ߠு௉஻ௐ ߠு௉஻ௐ
normalized reflectivity) at lower altitude. The lines are
‫ܩ‬ோ஺ ሺߠሻ ൌ ൝‫ܩ‬ோ஺  െ ʹ ൑ ߠ ൑ ʹ (7) parallel spaced by a value equal to the difference in the ߛ
Ͳ‫݁ݏ݅ݓݎ݄݁ݐ݋‬ parameters. The power falls-off by െʹͲሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ per decade rate
Finally, ߟ ‫ א‬ሾͲǡ ͳሿ is a scaling factor considering the not because the ͳȀ‫ ݎ‬ସ behavior is compensated by the increased
perfect alignment between the WAIC antenna and the RA illuminated area that grows as ‫ ݎ‬ଶ .
echoes, i.e., ߟ ൌ ͳ if the WAIC node collects all the RA
echoes, ߟ ൌ Ͳ if the WAIC node does not collect any RA
echoes.

Fig. 4 Interference power received by the WAIC node antenna for ݄ ൌ

ʹͲǡ ͶͲǡ ʹͲͲ and ͵ͲͲሾ݉ሿ when flying on different terrain typologies

TABLE III. INTERFERENCE POWER AND POWER DENSITY

Aircraft altitude [m]

Terrain Measure
20 40 200 400
Fig. 3 Problem geometry [29]
‫ܫ‬ሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿ െͶ͸Ǥ͵ െͷʹǤ͵ െ͸͸Ǥ͵ െ͹ʹǤ͵
Urban
To evaluate the interference power collected by the WAIC ܵ௜௜ ሺ݂ሻ  ቂ
݀‫݉ܤ‬
ቃ െͳʹ͹Ǥͷ െͳ͵͵Ǥͷ െͳͶ͹Ǥͷ െͳͷ͵Ǥͷ
during different flight conditions, let us consider an aircraft ‫ݖܪ‬

flying at altitudes ݄ ൌ ʹͲǡ ͶͲǡ ʹͲͲǡ ͶͲͲሾ݉ሿ over different Wooded

‫ܫ‬ሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿ െͷͳǤ͵ െͷ͹Ǥ͵ െ͹ͳǤ͵ െ͹͹Ǥ͵
terrain typologies (see TABLE II). The RA transmits a chirp Hills ܵ௜௜ ሺ݂ሻ  ቂ
݀‫݉ܤ‬
ቃ െͳ͵ʹǤͷ െͳ͵ͺǤͷ െͳͷʹǤͷ െͳͷͺǤͷ
ோ஺
signal with ்ܲ௑ ൌ ͳሾܹሿ over a band ‫ܤ‬௖ ൌ ͳ͵ʹǤͺሾ‫ݖܪܯ‬ሿ ‫ݖܪ‬

(RA 2 in TABLE I). Finally, ߠு௉஻ௐ ൌ ͸Ͳ௢ and the maximal ‫ܫ‬ሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿ െͷ͸Ǥ͵ െ͸ʹǤ͵ െ͹͸Ǥ͵ െͺʹǤ͵
gain for the RA and the WAIC antenna are set to ‫ܩ‬ோ஺ ൌ Farm ݀‫݉ܤ‬
ܵ௜௜ ሺ݂ሻ  ቂ ቃ െͳ͵͹Ǥͷ െͳͶ͵Ǥͷ െͳͷ͹Ǥͷ െͳ͸͵Ǥͷ
ͳͳሾ݀‫݅ܤ‬ሿ and ‫ܩ‬ௐ஺ூ஼ ൌ ͸ሾ݀‫݅ܤ‬ሿ respectively. The spatial ‫ݖܪ‬
mismatch coefficient ߟ value is ͲǤͷ. ‫ܫ‬ሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿ െ͸ͳǤ͵ െ͸͹Ǥ͵ െͺͳǤ͵ െͺ͹Ǥ͵
Flat ݀‫݉ܤ‬
ܵ௜௜ ሺ݂ሻ  ቂ ቃ െͳͶʹǤͷ െͳͶͺǤͷ െͳ͸ʹǤͷ െͳ͸ͺǤͷ
TABLE II. NORMALIZED REFLECTIVITY PARAMETER FOR DIFFERENT ‫ݖܪ‬
TERRAIN TYPOLOGIES [30]

Terrain Typologies Value III. OFDM SIGNAL ANALYSIS

Urban െͷሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ The Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
Wooded Hills െͳͲሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ (OFDM) is a multicarrier modulation technique that divides
the available spectrum into many parallel narrow band
Farm െͳͷሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ
subchannels [19]. OFDM is applied in different wireless
Flat െʹͲሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ communication scenarios as Wireless Local Area Networks
(WLAN [31]), cellular networks [32], satellite communication

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[33] as well as in power line communications [34] because its present at the central frequency. Each sub-carrier is the
robustness to the fast fading presents in frequency selective normalized sinc function shifted by integer multiple of ȟ݂so
channels. Accordingly, OFDM-based communication has there is no overlap between the sub-carriers for ݂ ൌ ݊ ‫ڄ‬
been proposed as candidate for high data-rate [2] WAIC. ȟ݂Ǣ ݊ ‫ א‬Ժ.
Moreover, the exploitation of OFDM for IoT applications [35] TABLE IV reports the OFDM parameters for the IEEE
confirms its possible use also for low-data rate WAIC 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ac standards [31]. Both the
systems. This section provides basic information about a protocols considers and OFDM signal with ͸Ͷsub-carriers
general OFDM-based system with respect to the transmitted
but with different frequency spacing:ȟ݂ ൌ ͵ͳʹǤͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ and
signal, it computes the power received by a WAIC node
located at different distances from the receiver. ȟ݂ ൌ ͵ͳǤʹͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ for the IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ah,
respectively. The durations of the OFDM symbol (IFFT
A. OFDM Transmitted Signal period) are ȟܶ ൌ ͵Ǥʹሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ (IEEE 802.11n) and ȟܶ ൌ
͵ʹሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ (IEEE 802.11ah). Moreover, a guard interval is
An OFDM transmitter architecture is typically added after the OFDM symbol to increase protection to Inter-
implemented by means of Inverse Discrete Fourier transform
Symbolic Interference (ISI). For the IEEE 802.11n the guard
(IDFT). The data bit stream is processed by a modulator,
interval is ͲǤͺሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ, whereas for the IEEE 802.11ah is ͺሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ,
resulting in a set of ܰ complex numbers ࢄ ൌ ሼܺ௡ Ǣ ݊ ൌ
leading to a total symbol time of ܶ௦ ൌ Ͷሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ and ܶ௦ ൌ
Ͳǡ ǥ ǡ ܰ െ ͳሽ. A serial-to-parallel block sends ࢄ to the IDFT
ͶͲሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ, respectively. The frequency spacing ȟ݂ is selected
block where they are the discrete frequency components of the
to be much smaller than the coherence bandwidth of the
OFDM symbol ࢞ ൌ ሼ‫ݔ‬௡ Ǣ ݊ ൌ Ͳǡ ǥ ǡ ܰ െ ͳሽ computed as
channel [19], so each sub-carrier experiments only flat
[19]:
fading. Accordingly, in the design of an OFDM-based WAIC
ேିଵ
ͳ ଶగ௡௜ system, precise measurements of channel shall be performed
‫ݔ‬௡ ൌ ෍ ܺ௜ ݁ ௝ ே ǡͲ ൑݊ ൑ܰെͳ (9) to select the proper OFDM parameters.
ξܰ ௜ୀ଴
TABLE IV. OFDM PARAMETERS IEEE 802.11N AND IEEE 802.11AH
Equation (9) corresponds to sample a sum of complex
௝
మഏ೔೟
Parameter IEEE 802.11n IEEE 802.11ah
numbers each one modulated by the carrier ݁ Ǣ݅ ൌ ౴೅

Ͳǡ ǥ ǡ ܰ െ ͳ and being ȟܶ ൌ ͳȀ߂݂ the inverse of the sub- Channel width, ‫ܤ‬௪ ʹͲሾ‫ݖܪܯ‬ሿ ʹሾ‫ݖܪܯ‬ሿ
carrier spacing, ȟ݂. After the IDFT operation a cyclic prefix Data sub-carriers, ܰ஽ ͷʹ ͷʹ
is added to the OFDM symbol to maintain the orthogonality Pilot sub-carriers, ܰ௣ Ͷ Ͷ
between the sub-carriers. A parallel-to-serial block and a Unused sub-carriers, ܰ௨ ͺ ͺ
digital to analog (D/A) converter create the baseband OFDM Total sub-carriers, ܰ ͸Ͷ ͸Ͷ
signal.
Frequency spacing, ȟ݂ ͵ͳʹǤͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ ͵ͳǤʹͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ
In real OFDM systems implementation [31], not all the IFFT period, ȟܶ ͵Ǥʹሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ ͵ʹሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ
sub-carriers transport data but some are unused for providing Guard Interval (long), ܶ௚ ͲǤͺሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ ͺሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ
a band guard against Inter-Symbolic Interference (ISI) and
Total symbol time, ܶ௦ ͶǤͲሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ ͶͲሾߤ‫ݏ‬ሿ
others as pilot, including information for data synchronization.
B. OFDM Frame
A communication system does not transmit a single
symbol, but it sends many symbols consecutively. Moreover,
it adds overhead to the raw information creating a data
structure called frame.

Fig. 6 General frame structure

Fig. 5 OFDM signal spectrum amplitude shifted at center frequency – ܰ ൌ
ͳ͸, ȟ݂ ൌ ͳʹͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ – band guard subcarriers in yellow – pilot subcarriers
in red – data subcarriers in green. Fig. 6 shows a generic frame structure: there is a preamble
field of duration ܶ௣ containing the information needed for
Fig. 5 shows the spectrum of an OFDM signal with reference properly decoding the data packets: synchronization bits,
at the central frequency with ܰ ൌ ͳ͸sub-carriers spaced by channel, and protocol-related parameters. After the preamble
ȟ݂ ൌ ͳʹͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ, Ͷ unused sub-carriers at the boundaries of field, the protocol transmits a set of data symbols of duration
the spectrum (yellow), ʹ pilot sub-carriers (red) and the ܶ௦ . In accordance, the total frame duration is:
remaining ͳͲ data sub-carriers in green. No carriers are

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 ܶ௙ ൌ ܶ௣ ൅ ܰௌ௒ெ ‫ܶ ڄ‬௦ (10) ͳ ‫ܧ‬௕
being ܰௌ௒ெ  the number of transmitted data symbols. ܲ௘௕ ൌ ݁‫ ݂ܿݎ‬ቌඨ ቍ (13)
ʹ ܰ଴
௧௢௧
Accordingly, the total number of symbols ܰௌ௒ெ in a single
frame is: being ‫ܧ‬௕ is the energy per symbol (bit), ܰ଴ is the single-side
௧௢௧
ܶ௣ spectral density value of the noise and ݁‫݂ܿݎ‬ሺ‫ݖ‬ሻ ൌ
ܰௌ௒ெ ൌ ൅ ܰௌ௒ெ (11) ଶ ାஶ ି௧ మ
ܶ௦ ‫׬‬௭ ݁ ݀‫ݐ‬is the complementary error function. Fig. 8
ξగ

C. OFDM Received Signal shows the bit error probability for different ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ values
using the BPSK modulation. ܲ௘௕ decreases monotonically for
The power received by a WAIC node located at distance increased values of energy per bit over noise ratio. Reliable
ௐ஺ூ஼
݀ from the transmitting node ܲோ௑ ሺ݀ሻ is computed
communication (i.e., ܲ௘௕ ൑ ͳͲିସ ) occurs for ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ greater
assuming the wireless channel is free space [1]. Accordingly,
the received power is: than ͺሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ.

ௐ஺ூ஼ ௐ஺ூ஼ ଶ
ߣ௪ ଶ
ܲோ௑ ሺ݀ሻ ൌ ்ܲ௑ ‫ܩ‬ௐ஺ூ஼ ൬ ൰ (12)
Ͷߨ݀
ௐ஺ூ஼
being ்ܲ௑ the power transmitted by the WAIC node, ߣ௪ ൌ
ܿ଴ Ȁ݂௪ is the signal wavelength with ܿ଴ speed of light in the
vacuum and ݂௪ the central frequency of the OFDM frame.
Finally, ‫ܩ‬ௐ஺ூ஼ is the maximal antenna gain of the WAIC
nodes. Fig. 7 shows the power received by a node located at
different distance from the transmitter, with ݂௪ ൌ ͶǤ͵ሾ‫ݖܪܩ‬ሿ
ௐ஺ூ஼
and ‫ܩ‬ௐ஺ூ஼ ൌ ͸ሾ݀‫݅ܤ‬ሿ. The transmitter power ்ܲ௑ has been
set to ͳͲሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿ and ͳ͵ሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿ as suggested in [1]. It is worth
noting, the received power level for distances greater than
͵Ͳሾ݉ሿ is comparable with the interference power collected at
low altitude (Fig. 4); so even if it is spread over different
frequencies, it suggests a possible EMI problem during
landing, take-off, and taxi operation. The free space model
does not consider fading so the received power can be Fig. 8 Bit Error Probability vs ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ – BPSK modulation
considered almost uniformly distributed in the whole OFDM
signal (i.e., over each sub-carrier). Equation (13) can be rewritten in terms of power per bit
ܲ௕  and noise power ܲே . ܲ௕  is computed considering the
ௐ஺ூ஼
power ܲோ௑ at the antenna input is spread over ܰ sub-
carriers, each sub-carrier carries ܰ஻௉஼  bits (for BPSK
modulation ܰ஻௉஼ ൌ ͳ), and a cyclic prefix is present in the
OFDM symbol [36]:
ௐ஺ூ஼
ܲோ௑ ȟܶ ͳ
ܲ௕ ൌ ‫ڄ‬ ‫ڄ‬൬ ൰ (14)
ܰ ܶ௦ ܰ஻௉஼
The noise power ܲே impacting a single carrier depends on
two terms, the AWGN and the interference as:
ܲே ൌ ܰ௦௖ ൅ ‫ܫ‬௦௖ (15)
being ܰ௦௖ is the noise power and ‫ܫ‬௦௖ the interference power
impacting a single carrier. Since the noise is flat over all the
spectrum, ܰ௦௖ turns out to be [27]:
୼௙

Fig. 7 Power received by the WAIC node antenna for different distance
ܰ௦௖ ൌ න ܰ଴ ݂݀ ൌ ܰ଴ ȟ݂ (16)
between transmitter and receiver – free space channel ଴

On the other hand, the computation of ‫ܫ‬௦௖ is determined

IV. INTERFERENCE IMPACT ANALYSIS by the impact of the chirp echo on the transmitted frames. Fig.
9 shows the worst-case scenario, in which the RA echo pass
The quality of any digital communication system is through the communication system spectrum, twice. Fig. 10
measured using the bit error probability, ܲ௘௕ [27]. It depends provides additional details about how the RA echo impacts
on the modulation scheme used for transmitting the data, the on the WAIC signal. The matrix describes a generic frame,
noise level, and the communication channel. For a BPSK where each square represents a sub-carrier filled in white or
modulation over an Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) blue if it belongs to the preamble or to the data field.
channel, ܲ௘௕ is [27]: Accordingly, every column is an OFDM symbol.

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 in the frame. In accordance, in case of high-power
interference, a single bit in ʹͷͳ consecutive OFDM symbols
will be corrupted. On the other hand, in an IEEE 802.11ah
based system the interference impacts ͷͳ sub-carriers in a
symbol but only ͵ (consecutive) symbols in a frame. As a
result, few symbols are completely distorted whereas the
others avoid any impact.

TABLE V. OFDM PARAMETERS IEEE 802.11N AND IEEE 802.11AH

Fig. 9 Chirp signal and frame collision - Time vs Frequency representation Parameter IEEE 802.11n IEEE 802.11ah
ܰ௜ ͳ ͷͳ
ܵ௜ ʹͷͳ ͵
ȟ݂௜ ͳͷͻǤʹͺሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ ͵ͳǤʹͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ

Now, let us consider two WAIC systems installed on an

aircraft flying over an urban scenario at distance from ground
݄ ൌ ʹͲ (landing operation). It represents the worst-case
scenario because the closer distance from ground and the
higher normalized radar cross section per unit area of terrain.
The two WAIC systems have the same OFDM parameters as
the IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ah standard. The
ௐ஺ூ஼
transmitted power ்ܲ௑ is set to ͳͲሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿand the AWGN
power density to െͳͲͲሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬Ȁ‫ݖܪ‬ሿ. TABLE VI collects the
Fig. 10 Chirp signal and frame collision – impact on frame sub-carriers
values of power for the additive noise and the interference.
The number of sub-carriers in each OFDM symbol affected The IEEE 802.11n sub-carriers are impacted more by the
by the interference, ܰ௜ , turns out to be: interference because the frequency overlap ȟ݂௜ is greater.
Moreover, the AWGN power is ͳͲሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ higher in IEEE
ܶ௦ ʹ‫ܤ‬௖ 802.11n OFDM system because ȟ݂ is ten times greater, i.e.,
ܰ௜ ൌ ‹ ൬ܰǡ ඄ ‫ڄ‬ ඈ൰ (17)
ȟ݂ ܶ௖ ͵ͳʹǤͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ vs ͵ͳǤʹͷሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ than in IEEE 802.11ah OFDM
system.
being ܰ the number of sub-carriers in a OFDM symbol,
ܶ௦ the symbol time, ȟ݂the sub-carrier frequency spacing, ‫ܤ‬௖ TABLE VI. NOISE AND INTERFERENCE POWER – IEEE 802.11N IEEE
and ܶ௖ the chirp beamwidth and chirp period respectively; 802.11AH OFDM WAIC SYSTEMS
ʹ‫ܤ‬௖ Ȁܶ௖ represents the chirp slope and ‫ ۀڄڿ‬is the upper round IEEE 802.11n IEEE 802.11ah
integer operation. Moreover, the maximal number of symbols Parameter
OFDM WAIC OFDM WAIC
in a frame impacted by the RA altimeter signal in a single ܰ௦௖ ሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿ െͳͲͷǤͲͷ െͳͳͷǤͲͷ
frequency sweep is: ݀‫݉ܤ‬
௧௢௧
‫ܤ‬ௐ ܶ௖ ܵ௜௜ ሺ݂ሻ  ቂ ቃ െͳʹͶǤͷ െͳʹͶǤͷ
ܵ௜ ൌ ‹ ൬ܰௌ௒ெ ǡ ඄ʹ ‫ڄ‬ ඈ൰ (18)
‫ݖܪ‬
ܶ௦ ʹ‫ܤ‬௖ ‫ܫ‬௦௖ ሾ݀‫݉ܤ‬ሿ െ͹ͷǤͷ െͺʹǤ͸
௧௢௧
being ܰௌ௒ெthe total number of symbols in the frame. The
number ʹ in front of ‫ܤ‬ௐ considers the chirp dependance Moreover, let us evaluate the signal-to-noise ratio ܴܵܰ௕  and
from frequency is triangular, in case of simpler upchirp or the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio ܵ‫ܴܰܫ‬௕ and over a
downchirp signal it shall be removed. Finally, the maximal single bit varying the distance ݀between the transmitter and
frequency overlap between the RA echo and a single sub- the receiver. The related equations are obtained using (14),
carrier is: (15), (16) and (20):
ʹ‫ܤ‬௖ ܲ௕ ሺ݀ሻ
ȟ݂௜ ൌ ‹ ൬ȟ݂ǡ ܶ൰ (19) ܴܵܰ௕ ൌ (21)
ܶ௖ ௦ ܰ௦௖
being ȟ݂ the sub-carrier spacing. Eq. (19) computes the
frequency variation of a chirp signal with slope ʹ‫ܤ‬௖ Ȁܶ௖ ܲ௕ ሺ݀ሻ
ܵ‫ܴܰܫ‬௕ ൌ (22)
within the symbol period ܶ௦ . Accordingly, the power of the ܰ௦௖ ൅ ‫ܫ‬௦௖
interference over a single sub-carrier ‫ܫ‬௦ can be obtained as: being ܲ௕ ሺ݀ሻ the power per bit, ܰ௦௖ the AWGN power over a
‫ܫ‬௦௖ ൌ ȟ݂௜ ‫ܵ ڄ‬௜௜ (20) single carrier, ‫ܫ‬௦௖ the interference power over a single carrier.
Fig. 11 shows the results. In accordance with TABLE VI the
being ܵ௜௜ the power spectral density computed by means of ܵ‫ܴܰܫ‬is smaller for the IEEE 802.11n OFDM system since
(8). As an example, let us exploit (17)-(19) for evaluating the the greater noise and interference power. It is worth noting,
impact of the RA echo on IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ah when ݄ ൌ ʹͲሾ݉ሿ and the distance between transmitter and
OFDM systems. TABLE V collects the results. In IEEE
the receiver is greater than ͵Ͳሾ݉ሿ a WAIC system using
802.11n the interference impacts only a single sub-carrier per
IEEE 802.11n OFDM parameters experiments a ܵ‫ ܴܰܫ‬ൎ
symbol and the frequency overlap per carrier is only
Ͷሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ leading to a ܲ௘௕ ൐ ͳ ‫ିͲͳ ڄ‬ଶ . As a result, the RA
ͳͷͻǤʹͺሾ݇‫ݖܪ‬ሿ. However, the interference hits many symbols

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interference results in additional erroneous bits in the frame A. Binary Convolutional Codes
that are consecutive for slow OFDM symbols (ܶ௦ Ȁܶ௖ ‫ )ͳ ب‬or Binary Convolutional codes were first introduced by P.
isolated for fast OFDM symbols (ܶ௦ Ȁܶ௖ ̱ͳ). Elias in [37] and studied exhaustively by A. J. Viterbi
[21][38]. The encoder consists of a linear finite-state machine
consisting of a ‫ܭ‬-state shift register, and ݊ linear algebraic
(modulo-2) function generators, usually referred as generator
polynomials ݃௜஻஼ Ǣ ݅ ൌ ͳǡ ǥ ǡ ݊ . The input data (usually a
single bit) is shifted along the register one bit at time. The
coding rate is ܴ஻஼ ൌ ͳȀ݊ (1 bit in input produces ݊ bits in
output) and other coding rate can be achieved using the
puncturing operation, i.e., omitting the transmission of some
encoded bits. An interleaver is usually added after the
encoding to increase the robustness with respect to burst of
errors. Encoded sequences are usually represented by Trellis
Diagram, a like-tree structure with emerging branches. On the
receiver side, the decoder exploits the Maximum A-Posteriori
(MAP) (Viterbi’s algorithm [38]) criteria for selecting the
path inside the Trellis diagram with the minimal distance with
Fig. 11 SINR and SNR for sub-carrier vs distance between transmitter and
respect to the received sequence.
receiver for WAIC systems exploiting IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ah B. Turbo Codes
OFDM - ݄ ൌ ʹͲሾ݉ሿ
Turbo Codes were presented by C. Berrou and A.
Glavieux in [24]. The encoder exploits parallel concatenation
V. CHANNEL CODING – INTERFERENCE MITIGATION with non-uniform interleaving strategy for creating the
The RA altimeter interference increases the noise power codeword. More in detail, the data (bit) goes directly to a first
over specific sub-carriers leading to a single or a burst of Recursive Systematic Encoder (RSE) and after interleaving it
errors in the transmitted frame. An effective strategy for enters in a second, not necessarily equal, RSE. An RSE
mitigating the impact of RA echoes on the WAIC signal encoder is a particular typology of convolutional encoder
exploits the use of channel coding schemes, also called with a feedback loop. Moreover, the input data is transmitted
forward error correction (FEC) schemes. Channel coding adds unaltered. In accordance, the basic code rate for a Turbo Code
redundancy to the forward transmission so enabling the is ்ܴ஼ ൌ ͳȀ͵ because one input bits produces three bits: the
receiver to correct errors in the received data. The redundancy outputs of the two encoders and the bit itself. Puncturing
is measured by the code rate ܴ ൌ ݇Ȁ݊ i.e., the ratio between operation can be applied for achieving other code rates. In
the length (in number of bits or symbols) of the raw [24] the authors proposed different decoding schemes: serial
information ‫( ݎ‬input of the decoder) and the length of the concatenation with and without feedback loop and parallel
associated codeword ݊ (output of the decoder). The code rate
concatenation with feedback loop. The feedback loop is,
is always smaller than ͳ (݊ ൐ ݇ሻand low code rates indicates
together with the use a-posteriori probability (APP) [39], the
FEC schemes with higher robustness but low net throughput.
most relevant innovation in the decoding architectures. As a
FEC schemes are classified in two main groups: block and result, the decoding performance of Turbo Codes
convolutional codes. Block codes apply on a specific number approximate the Shannon’s limit.
of bits and the current encoding state is independent of
previous states, on the other hand, convolutional codes apply C. Low-Density Parity Check Codes
over a stream of a bits and their current state depend on LDPC codes are linear block codes introduced by
previous states. The paper considers the following FEC Gallager in [22]. A block code considers the original
strategies as suitable candidates for noise and interference sequence of bits is divided in fixed-length message blocks of
impact mitigation: Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes, length ݇. In a LDPC the encoder consists of a set of linear
Binary Convolutional codes (BC), and Turbo Codes. The functions implemented by means of the generator matrix ࡳ
selection of those codes between the many available is of dimension ݇ ൈ ݊ that creates the codeword of length ݊
motivated by their application in different wireless [23][40]. Accordingly, the code rate is ܴ௅஽௉஼ ൌ ݇Ȁ݊. On the
communication standards. More in detail, BC codes are used
receiver side, error correction is performed by iteratively
in IEEE 802.11n and IEEE 802.11ac, Turbo Codes are applied
solving a set of equations described by the parity-check
in 3G and LTE cellular communication while LDPC codes
have been formerly used in IEEE 802.11n and they have been matrix ࡴ that contains ݉ ൒ ሺ݊ െ ݇ሻ rows and ݊columns. In
selected as one of the FEC schemes in 5G New Radio (NR) ࡴ every row corresponds to a parity check (modulo-2)
standard. equation. Since every parity check involves only few bits of
the received codeword, ࡴ turns out to be sparse, i.e., there is
The section provides a brief overview of all the above a low-density of ones so explaining the name of the codes.
mentioned FEC strategies, and it compares their performance
in dealing with noisy channels and burst of errors of different D. Channel Coding Selection
length. A fair comparison between different coding channel
techniques is not straightforward since their performance
depend by their design (e.g., polynomial generators), and data
traffic (e.g., packet size) characteristics. The paper tackles

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this problem in a different way evaluating the behavior of the The subcarriers are transmitted over a AWGN channel,
FEC schemes currently used in wireless communication demodulated by means of a soft-decision demodulation
standards. exploiting the exact log-likelihood ratio (LLR) algorithm and
In accordance, the BC encoder is a shift register of finally decoded by the corresponding FEC decoder using a
memory ‫ ܭ‬ൌ ͹ , polynomial generators ݃ଵ஻஼ ൌ ͳͲͳͳͲͳͳ௕ soft decoding technique [43]. The number of transmitted
and ݃ଶ஻஼ ൌ ͳͳͳͳͲͳͳ௕ no puncturing operation is applied so packets is ܰ௙ ൌ ͳͲͲǡͲͲͲ leading to ܰ௕்௑ǡ஻஼ ൌ ܰ௕்௑ǡ்஼ ൌ
the coding rate is ܴ஻஼ ൌ ͳȀʹ . Interleaving operation is ͷͳǤʹ ‫଺Ͳͳ ڄ‬ and ܰ௕்௑ǡ௅஽௉஼ ൌ ͵ʹǤͶ ‫଺Ͳͳ ڄ‬ transmitted
applied on the encoded data. The decoder uses the Viterbi information bits. The ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ for the uncoded data is in the
algorithm for recovering the transmitted message and it has a range ሾെͶǡͶሿሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ, while the ሺ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ ሻfor the coded data is
traceback length of ͷ ‫ ܭ ڄ‬bits [42]. Such BC code computed as:
parameterization is applied in the IEEE 802.11n standard
[31]. Finally, the number of information bits (excluding the ‫ܧ‬௕ ௜ ‫ܧ‬௕
൬ ൰ ൌ ൅ ͳͲ ‫‰‘Ž ڄ‬ଵ଴ ܴ௜ Ǣ ݅ ൌ ‫ܥܤ‬ǡ ܶ‫ܥ‬ǡ ‫ܥܲܦܮ‬ (24)
redundancy introduced by the code) per frame is set to ܰ௕஻஼ ൌ ܰ଴ ܰ଴
ͷͳʹ. The Turbo Code parameterization is the same as in LTE being ܴ௜ Ǣ ݅ ൌ ‫ܥܤ‬ǡ ܶ‫ܥ‬ǡ ‫ ܥܲܦܮ‬the code rate for the Binary
standard [41]. There are two identical RSEs with generator
Convolutional code, Turbo code and Low-Density Parity
polynomials ݃ଵ்஼ ൌ ͳͲͳͲͳ௕ and ݃ଶ்஼ ൌ ͳͲͳͳͳ௕ and Check code, respectively. Eq. (24) assures a fair comparison
feedback polynomial ݂ ்஼ ൌ ͳͲͳͲͳ௕ . The shift register with respect to the energy of the transmitted signal since
memory is ‫ ܭ‬ൌ Ͷ. The interleaver operation considers the different coding rates leads to frame with different sizes.
procedure described in [41]. The coding rate turns out to be Fig. 13 shows the ‫ ܴܧܤ‬for the coded as well as uncoded
்ܴ஼ ൎ ͳȀ͵ . The decoding operation considers a parallel bit stream with respect to different ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ values. For low
concatenation architecture with the number of iterations values of ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ none of the FEC schemes corrects the
equal to Ͷ . The number of information bits per frame is erroneous bits and the ‫ܴܧܤ‬is almost flat in the range ͲǤͳ െ
ܰ௕்஼ ൌ ͷͳʹ bits. Finally, the LDPC code considers data ͲǤͺሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ. For ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ ൒ ͳሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ the Turbo code enters in the
blocks of size ܰ௕௅஽௉஼ ൌ ͵ʹͶbits, a coding rate ܴ௅஽௉஼ ൌ ͳȀʹ. waterfall region and so, an ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴  enhancement of few ݀‫ݏܤ‬
The generator matrix ࡳ and parity check matrix ࡴ are leads to a drastic reduction of the ‫ܴܧܤ‬. The same applies for
created by means of the matrix prototype with codeword the LDPC code when ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ ൒ ʹሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ . The Turbo code
length ͸ʹͺbits, sub-block size ܼ ൌ ʹ͹ and rate ͳȀʹ reported outperforms the others FEC schemes because the higher
in [31] (Annex F). Finally, the maximal number of iterations coding rate (ͳȀ͵ vs ͳȀʹ). For ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ ൒ ʹǤͷሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿthere are no
for solving the parity check system of equations is set to ͳͲ. erroneous bits after the decoding operation when Turbo code
E. Numerical Assessments is used. Such a result suggests a ‫ ܴܧܤ‬൏ ͳͲି଻ can be
achieved assuring an ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ in the order of ͵ሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ.
The capability of the FEC schemes in dealing with noise
is evaluated by transmitting ܰ௙ frames composed by ܰ௕ bits
over an AWGN channel characterized by different noise
levels and then computing the corresponding Bit Error Rate,
‫ ܴܧܤ‬as:
௜
ܰ௘௕
‫ܴܧܤ‬௜ ൌ Ǣ ݅ ൌ ‫ܥܤ‬ǡ ܶ‫ܥ‬ǡ ‫ܥܲܦܮ‬ (23)
ܰ௕்௑ǡ௜
being ܰ௕்௑ǡ௜ ൌ ܰ௙ ‫ܰ ڄ‬௕௜ Ǣ ݅ ൌ ‫ܥܤ‬ǡ ܶ‫ܥ‬ǡ ‫ ܥܲܦܮ‬the total number
௜
of transmitted information bits for each code and ܰ௘௕ Ǣ݅ ൌ
ǡ ‫ܥܤ‬ǡ ܶ‫ܥ‬ǡ ‫ ܥܲܦܮ‬the number of erroneous bits after the
decoding operation. It is worth noting, the ‫ܴܧܤ‬converges to
the bit error probability for a sufficiently large number of
transmitted bits.
Now, let us consider a simplified communication system
as shown in Fig. 12. The information stream is firstly encoded Fig. 13 BER vs ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ for different channel coding strategies – blue
using one of the channel coding schemes described above and uncoded – orange BC code – yellow Turbo code – purple LDPC code
successively enters in a OFDM block where every sub-carrier
is modulated using a BPSK modulator. Accordingly, each The effectiveness of FEC schemes in correcting bursts of
sub-carriers transport one bit of information. error is assessed by injecting in the transmitted frames a set
of consecutive errors of variable length ‫ܮ‬௕ . Since the RA
interference applies at symbol level, the error insertion is
implemented by flipping the symbol that corresponds to the
transmitted bit affected by the interference. The performance
of each channel coding strategy is evaluated by means of the
average number of erroneous bits still present after the
௜
channel decoding, ܰ തതതതത
௘௕ :

Fig. 12. Numerical Assessment – Simplified communication system

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 ே೑ slow OFDM symbols or isolated for fast OFDM symbols. In
௜ ͳ both cases the interference power determines the corruption of
തതതതത
ܰ௘௕ ൫‫ܮ‬௜௕ ൯ ൌ
௜ǡ௝
෍ ܰ௘௕ ൫‫ܮ‬௜௕ ൯Ǣ ݅ ൌ ‫ܥܤ‬ǡ ܶ‫ܥ‬ǡ ‫ܥܲܦܮ‬ (25) the symbols carried by the sub-carriers. To mitigate the effect
ܰ௙
௝ୀଵ of RA interference different channel coding techniques have
being ܰ௙ the number of frames transmitted in the simulation, been evaluated with respect to their capability to deal with a
௜ǡ௝ noisy channel as well as to bursts of errors. The appropriate
ܰ௘௕ ሺ‫ ܾ݅ܮ‬ሻ the number of erroneous bits after the ݆-th frame has FEC scheme guarantees a reliable communication over a
been decoded when a burst of ‫ܮ‬௜௕ erroneous symbols has been noisy AWGN channel even for medium (i.e., ൎ ͵ሾ݀‫ܤ‬ሿ )
injected in the frame. ‫ܧ‬௕ Ȁܰ଴ and correction up to Ͷͳ consecutive erroneous bits
Now, let us consider ܰ௙ ൌ ͳͲͲͲ frames corrupted by a (LDPC). However, channel coding selection and design shall
burst of errors of increasing length located in the middle of consider not only ‫ ܴܧܤ‬but also latency and throughput
the frame. Fig. 14 shows തതതതത
௜
ܰ௘௕ Ǣ ݅ ൌ ‫ܥܤ‬ǡ ܶ‫ܥ‬ǡ ‫ ܥܲܦܮ‬with requirements, code implementation complexity and required
respect to burst of error of increasing size. Since the coded HW computational power and data traffic characteristics.
Moreover, an accurate knowledge of the communication
frames have different lengths a fair comparison between the
channel will provide the information needed for optimizing
codes considers the burst error length ‫ܮ‬௜௕  has been the FEC scheme with respect to code rate.
normalized over the whole coded frame length ‫ܮ‬௜௙ :
‫ܮ‬௜௕ REFERENCES
‫ܮ‬௕ ሾΨሿ ൌ Ǣ ݅ ൌ ‫ܥܤ‬ǡ ܶ‫ܥ‬ǡ ‫ܥܲܦܮ‬ (26) [1] ITU, Technical characteristics and operational objectives for wireless
‫ܮ‬௜௙ avionics intra-communication (WAIC), (ITU-R M.2197), 2010.
In the simulation framework, ‫ܮ‬஻஼ ்஼ [2] P. Park, P. Di Marco, J. Nah and C. Fischione, "Wireless Avionics
௙ ൌ ͳͲʹͶ , ‫ܮ‬௙ ൌ ͳͷͶͺ , Intracommunications: a survey of benefits, challenges, and solutions,"
்஼
‫ܮ‬௙ ൌ ͸Ͷͺ bits and the frame length for the uncoded IEEE Internet of Things Journal, vol. 8, no. 10, pp. 7745-7767, May
communication equal to ͷͳʹ bits. In accordance with the 2021.
theory the uncoded communication is unable to correct any [3] ITU, Consideration of the aeronautical mobile (route), aeronautical
mobile, and aeronautical radionanvigation services allocations to
errors and so the തതതതത
ܰ௘௕ grows linearly as ‫ܮ‬௕ ሾΨሿ increases. The accommodate wireless avionics intra-communication, (ITU-R
BC code corrects error bursts up to ʹͲbits (‫ܮ‬஻஼
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