Packet combining systems based on the Viterbi decoder

Type-I hybrid-ARQ protocols can be used to construct powerful adaptive rate algorithms through the use of packet combining techniques. In this paper several packet combining schemes are presented for use in conjunction with the Viterbi decoder over stationary and time-varying channels. The first technique presented is an averaged diversity combiner, which is shown to be identical in performance to an interleaved code combiner over an AWGN channel. The averaged diversity combiner is then generalized to make use of packet weights based on either ideal channel state information or weights derived from side information generated by the Viterbi decoder. It is shown that the weighted diversity combiner using decoder side information performs almost as well as the system using ideal channel state information. All of the packet combining schemes discussed in this paper provide improved throughput and reliability performance relative to that provided by the standard type-I hybrid-ARQ or EEC systems. This performance improvement is obtained at the expense of negligible to moderate modifications to the transmitter and receiver. Performance bounds are derived for each of the combining schemes and their tightness verified through simulation results