Coded 64-CAP ADSL in an impulse-noise environment-modeling of impulse noise and first simulation results

This paper presents the performance of various coding schemes for the asymmetrical digital subscriber line (ADSL) in an impulse-noise environment. Impulse noise is considered to be one of the most damaging impairments in the ADSL, in which compressed video signals are delivered to residential customers. The impulse noise used in this study was measured and collected in German telephone networks. Based on this measurement and the corresponding statistical modeling, a simulation model for impulse noise is proposed and its properties are outlined. The coding schemes considered here utilize burst-error correcting Reed-Solomon codes and/or random error correcting trellis codes as well as symbol interleaving between the two codes. It has been found through computer simulations that a proper concatenation of the two codes could increase the immunity against impulse noise compared to an uncoded scheme. Specifically, a concatenated code, using a 2-dimensional 8-state trellis code and a 4-error-correcting Reed-Solomon code with an interleaving depth of 18 symbols, was able to eliminate all the errors caused by the impulse noise used in the study. It has also been found that the trellis codes are not very effective against impulse noise, unless they are used in conjunction with Reed-Solomon codes and a proper symbol interleaving. Performance results of other coding configurations using Reed-Solomon codes with different error-correcting capabilities are also presented. In addition, we also show the performance results when simple array codes are used instead of the Reed-Solomon codes