Error correcting codes for fast frequency‐hopped MFSK spread‐spectrum satellite communications under worst case jamming

Abstract

AbstractSpread‐spectrum techniques such as frequency hopping (FH) have been used to reduce the vulnerability of satellite communications to jamming. In such a system, error correcting (EC) codes play an essential role. Thus a knowledge of the performance of various EC codes is necessary in order to choose an EC code and related system parameters in the design of an anti‐jam system, this paper examines the performance of various types of error correcting codes under worst case partial band noise jamming and worst case multitone jamming using fast frequency‐hopped, non‐coherent M‐ary frequency‐shift keying (NCMFSK) with optimum diversity. A comprehensive study including convolutional codes, binary and non‐binary block codes and concatenated codes has been conducted. This paper presents bit error rate (BER) performances of various error correcting codes. New candidate codes with superior anti‐jam performance are identified.