Non-coherent Receivers for Low Data Rate Transmissions under Weak Solar Scintillation

Abstract

We study the performance of non-coherent reception of low data rate signals under solar scintillation effects. Two different types of waveform are characterized: conventional MFSK and a special version of MFSK in which the signalling tones are phase modulated. For both types of modulation, an FFT-based non-coherent receiver based on spectrum averaging is studied. The symbol error rate is characterized in detail in the presence of a Rice scintillation channel model. The study illustrates the strong dependence of the receiver performance on both the scintillation index and the associated spectrum density. Results can be used to select the best waveform parameters and the optimum receiver configuration for a given scintillation scenario.