An Investigation of Block Coding for Laplacian Noise

In many communication channels, the ambient disturbance is known through experimental evidence as well as theoretical considerations to deviate strongly from the Gaussian model. In order to evaluate the performance of digital signaling in such channels, the non-Gaussian noise must be properly modeled. The Laplace distribution is used here to model the non-Gaussian noise and study the performance of communication systems employing block data transmission in the presence of impulsive noise. Analytical expressions for assessing codeword error probability and bit error probability are derived for hard-decision decoders, soft-decision decoders and optimum maximum likelihood detectors in both nonfading and quasi-static Rayleigh fading scenarios. Numerical results are presented for different codes, block sizes and error rate levels. The characteristics of error performance are discussed for both nonfading and quasi-static Rayleigh fading channels.