A new generative method for simulation of radio channels based on hidden Markov models

The combined effect of all the impairments in a mobile propagation channel results in a discrete channel (modulator-channel-demodulator) with memory, in which the errors occur in clusters or bursts separated by fairly long error free gaps. Many digital communication channels exhibit statistical dependencies among the errors. The design of error control schemes for such channels and their performance evaluation is simplified if appropriate generative models of the overall communication link are available. This paper presents a new class of generative models, based on the interconnection of hidden Markov submodels parameterized by the Baum-Welch algorithm, which are particularly suitable for simulating error profiles with long bursts, as is often the case in indoor radio channels where the error free gaps inside a burst are heavily nonrenewal. The merits of the method are corroborated by applying the technique to two error profiles from indoor CDMA radio links