A DSP-based impulsive noise generator for QoS and EMC tests in wireless systems

Impulsive noise is known to be one of the most damaging types of wideband interference present in wireless communications systems, such as UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), Bluetooth and DVB-T (digital video broadcasting-terrestrial). In order to quantify how impulsive noise degrades the quality of service (QoS) of a particular system and evaluate the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) requirements of a practical receiver under realistic impulsive noise conditions, the use of a flexible and modular impulsive noise generator is necessary. The paper presents a low-complexity and highly flexible impulsive noise generator whose software module is implemented in a DSP (digital signal processor) platform. The software implementation preserves the statistical characteristics of measured impulsive noise parameters. The generator is especially suitable for performing QoS tests and EMC conformance testing in realistic impulsive noise scenarios, due to the flexibility of its software and hardware sections. The feasibility and achievable performance of the test-bed are presented.