Frequently Asked Questions
How do I resolve RF output issues?
Does SOQPSK require more transmit power than PCM/FM, to get the same error rate?
The answer depends on your which PCM/FM demodulator you’re using. If your PCM/FM performance baseline is any of the conventional single-symbol detectors which have been in the market for decades, then the answer is, “No, SOQPSK and PCM/FM have nearly identical bit error rate (BER) performance”. In fact, if your PCM/FM receiver is out of tune, or you’re trying to push it to really high or really low bit rates, then SOQPSK will very likely give better BER than PCM/FM.
However, if you are the proud owner of one of our second-generation multi-symbol detectors for PCM/FM, then you’re enjoying BER performance 3.5 to 4 dB better than your colleagues who are still using single-symbol detectors. This 3.5 to 4 dB improvement does indeed give PCM/FM a BER advantage over SOQPSK.
So the short answer is that SOQPSK delivers the same BER performance you’re accustomed to with your legacy PCM/FM demodulators, but not as good as you would have with our second-generation multi-symbol detector for PCM/FM. Of course, this is entirely reasonable, since SOQPSK uses only half the bandwidth of PCM/FM.
|