Data Communication Through the Atmospheric Burst Error Channel

Simple and easily utilized techniques are suggested for reliable transmission of binary data in the presence of atmospheric noise bursts. The techniques utilize the time statistics of the noise bursts, now known to be log-normal, and operate on one-way channels. Two modes of transmission are distinguished. The first mode involves double or triple transmission of an error detection code word. The second mode of transmission is based on burst error correction, provided either by a majority count principle or by the recurrent codes of Hagelbarger. Numerical calculations indicate the superior performance of the error detection techniques.