Performance Assessment for LDM Transmission Based on DVB Satellite Standard

Abstract

Variable Coding and Modulation (VCM), one of the Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) schemes and also known as channel adaptive Time-sharing Division Multiplexing (TDM) in satellite broadcasting and communication systems, has been widely utilized to mitigate heavy rain fading in Ku/Ka-band to enhance link availability in DVB-S2x (Digital Video Broadcasting -Satellite 2nd generation eXtension) standard. For next-generation satellite broadcasting and communication, we exploit Layer Division Multiplexing (LDM) technology, which is also referred to as Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA). We conduct a performance assessment of VCM in terms of the total achievable data rate under Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel and nonlinear satellite High Power Amplifier (HPA) impairments. In addition, we consider realistic Radio Frequency (RF) inaccuracies characterized by timing and carrier offsets. Through the identification of the performance impacts, we propose a robust carrier phase synchronization scheme to mitigate phase noise impairment. Numerical results demonstrate that our proposed scheme can enhance Packet Error Rate (PER) performance compared to the conventional one in a phase noise environment.