PACKET ERROR PROBABILITIES IN DIRECT-SEQUENCE SPREAD-SPECTRUM PACKET RADIO NETWORKS

The problem of computing packet error probabilities in direct-sequence spread-spectrum packet radio networks is difficult. Packet errors are caused by a combination of noise at the receivers and interference between packet transmissions, which overlap in time. The interference between packet transmissions produces dependent errors at the output of the demodulator. In this paper, we compute an upper bound on the packet error probability induced in direct-sequence spread-spectrum networks. The bound, which we introduce, is valid independently of whether signals arrive with equal or unequal powers at the receiver site. Furthermore, it has a simple form and it is easy to compute. Finally, it is valid for various classes of forward error correction codes (e.g., BCH, convolutional codes). In this paper, numerical results are presented for BCH codes only. © 1990 IEEE