Estimating symbol error rate vs. carrier to noise in IQ modulated systems based on digitization of constellation and statistical models

Methods used to characterize the degradation of symbol error rate (SER) vs. carrier-to-noise ratio (C/N) performance of several different components of systems that broadcast digital video signals are presented. The techniques are based on repetitively sampling and then digitizing the IQ constellation at baseband. Mathematically different levels of noise calculated relative to the carrier are added to the digitized constellation. Examination of the resulting distributions of noise versus error thresholds allows the estimation of SER vs. C/N in the absence of any error correction in the receiver. The effects of IF bandwidth and transmit and receive filters are also taken into account. The estimated SER vs. C/N can be plotted and compared to the theoretical SER vs. C/N for the modulation format, IF bandwidth, and transmit and receive filters in the system under test