EVM and BER evaluation of C band new Airport surface communication systems

AeroMACS (Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communication System) is proposed for future airport surface communication system in the C band. In this paper, we report the results of an experiment at Sendai airport in Japan to evaluate the AeroMACS. Our base station covers the approximately 3km×1km rectangular airport surface with a transmitter power of 1W. A BER (Bit Error Rate) of less than 10^-6 is required at the physical layer in order to realize reliable data communication systems. However, measurement of the BER is difficult especially in field experiments because another data link is required to inform the receiver of the correct transmitted symbols. Therefore, we calculate the relationship between EVM (Error Vector Magnitude) and BER by computer simulation, then translate the EVM which is measured in the experiment into BER. The results show that 64QAM-3/4 can be used with a BER of less than 10^-6 in 64.3% of the LOS (Line Of Sights) area and 64QAM cannot be used in almost all NLOS (Non Line Of Sights) areas at Sendai airport.