Evaluation of Modulation Coding Schemes for Adaptive HF Data Communication System

This paper evaluates at the various modulation coding schemes (MCS) suitable for adaptive data communication system used in the HF (High Frequency) spectrum. The techniques evaluated include PACTOR I, PACTOR II, PACTOR III, GTOR and STANAG 4529. Performance analysis is made in the presence of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), and combine AWGN and multipath fading conditions. Criteria for comparison is made based on the bit-error rate (BER), packet-error rate (PER) and the throughput. In addition, the effective data rate for all the schemes is compared with the Shannon capacity limit to determine the optimal utilization of the given channel bandwidth. From the evaluation, most robust MCS will be identified and used as basis for future adaptive data communication system.