Packet error rate in the non-interleaved Rayleigh channel

Two analytical methods for determining the packet error rate in the non-interleaved Rayleigh fading channel are presented. The first method is an exact evaluation of the packet error rate, whereas the second method is based on a k-state digital channel model. The fading model is a nonfrequency selective Rayleigh fading with a first-order low pass spectrum for the quadrature fading components. The analytical methods are complemented by simulations. The influence of the fading bandwidth on the packet error rate and the packet throughput is discussed. Block codes as well as convolutional codes are considered. The results show that without forward error correction the throughput for slow fading is higher than for fast fading. With forward error correction the packet error rate is sensitive to the fading bandwidth. Furthermore it is shown that the convolutional code with intra packet interleaving is least sensitive to slow fading.< >