Causes of burst errors in multipath fading channel [mobile radio]

The so-called irreducible error due to frequency-selective fading is known to have a serious effect on mobile radio communication systems. Thus, the analysis of such errors is a prerequisite for making high-speed digital signal transmission over a fading channel feasible. The authors attempted to elucidate the physical mechanisms causing such errors using laboratory measurements of microscopic bit error rate. The results clarified some sources of burst errors in a multipath fading channel. In particular, large and rapid timing fluctuations of eye pattern due to severe delay distortion of the multipath channel was found to be the most dominant source of error