ELEC1200: A System View of

Communications: from Signals to Packets

Lecture 10
Review:
– The binary channel model

Introduce
– Calculating BER Examples
– Power consumption
– Gaussian PDF of noise

Summary

ELEC1200 1
 The Binary Channel
P[IN=0] 1 − Pe0
0 0
Pe0

IN OUT
Pe1
1 P[IN=1]
1
1 − Pe1

P[IN=0] = Probability (% of the time) that IN=0

P[IN=1] = Probability (% of the time) that IN=1

Pe0 = Probability (% of the time) there is an error when IN=0

= Probability (% of the time) that OUT=1 when IN=0

Pe1 = Probability (% of the time) there is an error when IN=1

= Probability (% of the time) that OUT=0 when IN=1
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 Computing the BER
P[IN=0] 1 − Pe0
0 0
Pe0

IN OUT
Pe1
1 P[IN=1]
1
1 − Pe1

• The BER is the probability of error, Pe

BER = Pe = Pe0 ⋅ P[IN=0] + Pe1 ⋅ P[IN=1]

probability that probability that

OUT=1 and IN=0 OUT=0 and IN=1

ELEC1200
Two types of errors! 3
 ELEC1200: A System View of
Communications: from Signals to Packets
Lecture 10
Review:
– The binary channel model

Introduce
– Calculating BER Examples
– Power consumption
– Gaussian PDF of noise

Summary

ELEC1200 4
 Example
Input/Output Bit Streams
n 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

IN 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1
OUT 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1
By definition:
# of errors 3
BER ≈ = 12%
=
# of bit pairs 25

Using our formula:

P[IN=0] = 8
25
1 − Pe0 =
7

0
8
0
Pe0 = 1
8
IN OUT
Pe1 = 2
17

1 1
P[IN=1] = 17
25
1 − Pe1 = 15
17

1 8 2 17 3
BER = Pe0 ⋅ P[IN=0] + Pe1 ⋅ P[IN=1] = ⋅ + ⋅ =
8 25 17 25 25
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 Intuition
P[IN=0] 1 − Pe0
0 0
Pe0
IN OUT
Pe1
1 1
P[IN=1] 1 − Pe1

BER = Pe0 ⋅ P[IN=0] + Pe1 ⋅ P[IN=1]

• Since P[IN=0]+P[IN=1]=1,
– BER is a weighted average of Pe0 and Pe1
– BER is between Pe0 and Pe1
– If IN=0 is more likely, the BER is closer to Pe0
– If IN=1 is more likely, the BER is closer to Pe1
– If IN=0 and 1 are equally likely, BER = ½(Pe0 + Pe1)
– If Pe0 = Pe1, BER = Pe0 = Pe1.

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 Example BER Calculation
P[IN=0] = 0.6 1 − Pe0 =
0.8
0 0
Pe0 = 0.2
IN OUT
Pe1 = 0.3
1 1
P[IN=1] = 0.4 1 − Pe1 =
0.7

What is the BER for the Binary Channel above?

Solution: 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐 < 𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩 < 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑

𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩𝑩 = 𝑷𝑷𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 � 𝑷𝑷 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 = 𝟎𝟎 + 𝑷𝑷𝒆𝒆𝒆𝒆 � 𝑷𝑷 𝑰𝑰𝑰𝑰 = 𝟏𝟏

= 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟔𝟔 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟑𝟑 × 𝟎𝟎. 𝟒𝟒
= 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 + 𝟎𝟎. 𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏
= 𝟎𝟎. 𝟐𝟐𝟐𝟐

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 What we need to know to predict BER
P[IN=0] 1 − Pe0
0 0
Pe0
IN OUT
Pe1
P[IN=1]
1 1
1 − Pe1

• In order to predict BER, we need to know

– P[IN=0] (we can find P[IN=1] = 1 - P[IN=0])
– Pe0
– Pe1
• Usually, the transmitter determines P[IN=0]
– e.g. P[IN=0] = P[IN=1] = 0.5
• Pe0 and Pe1 depend on
– Transmit levels (rmin,rmax)
– “Power” of the noise
– Threshold
ELEC1200 8
 ELEC1200: A System View of
Communications: from Signals to Packets
Lecture 10
Review:
– The binary channel model

Introduce
– Calculating BER Examples
– Power consumption
– Gaussian PDF of noise

Summary

ELEC1200 9
 Power Consumption
• Power is energy used per unit time: Typical power consumption:
– microwave oven 1000W
energy – desktop computer 120W
power =
time – notebook computer 40W
– 1 Watt = Unit of Power – human brain 10W
– Lifting an apple (~100g) up by 1m in 1s requires ~1W – mobile phone 1W
• Batteries contain a fixed amount of energy.
– The higher the power consumption of the device they are
powering, the faster this energy is used up.

energy
usable time =
power consumption

• Calculating the amount of energy in a battery

– Batteries are typically rated at fixed voltage in volts (V)
and a charge capacity in milliamp-hours (mAh)
– Multiplying these together gives the total energy stored in
the battery in milliwatt-hours (mWh)
– For example, this mobile phone battery contains 3700mWh
of energy

ELEC1200 10
 ELEC1200: A System View of
Communications: from Signals to Packets
Lecture 10
Review:
– The binary channel model

Introduce
– Calculating BER Examples
– Power consumption
– Gaussian PDF of noise

Summary

ELEC1200 11
 Gaussian PDF of Noise
• The probability density function of
many naturally occurring random
quantities, such as noise, tends to
have a bell-like shape, known as a Gaussian PDF
Gaussian distribution.
• This very important result is due to a
mathematical result known as the
Central-Limit Theorem.
• This random variable is so common
that it is also called the “normal”
random variable.
The wider the PDF,
• Applications: the larger the noise.
– Noises that corrupt transmission signals.
– Position of a particle undergoing Brownian
motion.
– Voltage across a resistor.

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 Parameters of Gaussian pdf
• The mean (m) of a Gaussian random variable is
– Its average value over many samples
– The center location of the pdf
• The standard deviation (σ) is
– An indication of how “spread out” the samples are
– A measure of the width of the pdf
• The variance (σ2) is
– The square of the standard deviation
– The average power over many samples

1
pdf
2π σ
−( x−m)2
e −0.5 1
f X ( x) = e 2σ 2
2π σ f X (x) 2π σ
The Gaussian pdf is ~60% of
completely determined peak
by its σ
mean and Variance

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 Changing the Mean and Variance
• Changes in mean shift the center of mass of PDF
• Changes in variance narrow or broaden the PDF
– Note that area of PDF must always remain equal to one

1
2πσ
Mean = mx
Standard Deviation = 𝝈𝝈𝒙𝒙

σx
1
2πσ

σx
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 Summary

• In digital systems noise leads to bit errors

• We use probability to get a formula for BER and
calculate BER

• Usually, the transmitter controls P[IN=0] and

P[IN=1]
– e.g. P[IN=0] = P[IN=1] = 0.5

• Noise can be represented by Gaussian PDF

Next lecture: How to determine Pe0 and Pe1

using the noise pdf?

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