423

Appendix

Error Functions and Bit Error Rate

This appendix provides an overview of error functions and their application to the
computation of probability based functions used in communications systems perfor-
mance parameters. Also included is an approximation error function, which simplifies
many of the calculations required for the evaluation of satellite communications system
performance. The results are particularly useful in the determination of the probability
of error, or bit error rate, BER, for many of the processing or modulation techniques
discussed in this book.
The BER for polar non return to zero, polar NRZ, a popular digital source encoding
technique discussed in Chapter 10, is,
√
⎛ ( e )⎞
1
BER = erfc ⎜ b ⎟
(A.1)
2 ⎜ n0 ⎟
⎝ ⎠
where,
( )
eb
n
: the energy-per-bit to noise ratio
o

and the operator erfc( ) is the complimentary error function, defined as

∞
2 2
erfc(x) = √ e−u du (A.2)
π ∫x
The above BER also applies to the BPSK and QPSK, the two major digital signal carrier
modulation techniques used in satellite communications, and discussed throughout
this book.

A.1 Error Functions

The complimentary error function is one of several functions used in the evaluation
of probability functions that involve a Gaussian process. The computation of the
probability is based on the determination of the area under the tail of the normal
probability density function,
1 (x−m)2
p(x) = √ e− 2 σ2 (A.3)
σ 2π
where m and σ are the mean and standard deviation of the distribution, respectively.

Satellite Communications Systems Engineering: Atmospheric Effects, Satellite Link Design and System Performance,
Second Edition. Louis J. Ippolito, Jr.
© 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Published 2017 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
424 Satellite Communications Systems Engineering

−x(−m)2

p(x) = 1 e 2σ2
σ 2π

xo x

Figure A.1 The normal probability function.

Figure A.1 shows a plot of p(x). The shaded area on the plot shows the area under the
“tail” of the distribution, which represents the probability that the random variable x is
equal to or greater than the value xo . This probability is written as,
∞
1 − (x−m)
2

Pr (x ≥ xo ) = √ e 2 σ2 dx (A.4)
∫xo σ 2π
The error function, erf , is defined as
z
2 2
erf(z) ≡ √ e−x dx (A.5)
∫
π o
The complimentary error function, erfc, is defined as

erfc(z) ≡ 1 − erf(z)
∞
2 2
erfc(z) = √ e−x dx (A.6)
π ∫z
The Q function is defined as
∞
1 x2
Q(z) ≡ √ e− 2 dx (A.7)
2 π ∫z
The relationship between the functions can be summarized as
[ ( )] ( )
1 z 1 z
Q(z) = 1 − erf √ = erfc √
2 2 2 2
√
erfc (z) = 2 Q( 2 z) (A.8)
√
erf (z) = 1 − 2 Q( 2 z)

Also, note that

Q(−z) = 1 − Q(z)
1 (A.9)
Q(0) = ; erfc(0) = 1; erf(0) = 0
2
 Appendix: Error Functions and Bit Error Rate 425

A.2 Approximation for BER

The BER discussed earlier, applicable to polar NRZ, BPSK, and QPSK, (Eq. B.1)
√
⎛ ( e )⎞
1
BER = erfc ⎜ b ⎟
2 ⎜ n0 ⎟
⎝ ⎠
requires the erfc for its calculation. The erfc, along with the erf and Q, can be found
in mathematics books tabulations. They may also be included as look up functions pro-
vided in spreadsheet or mathematical calculation software. Under the condition that the
argument for the erfc is
( )
eb
≥ 6.5 dB
n0
the BER can be approximated as
( )
eb
−
e no
BER ≈ √ ( ) (A.10)
e
4π nb
o

Figure A.2 compares the approximation (dotted line) with the exact function (solid line).
The approximation can be used when accurate tabulations for the erfc function are not
available, and provides a useful closed form of the BER, which can be utilized in link
budget trades or simulations.

10–1
eb
−
e no
10–2 BER ≈
eb
4
4π
n0
1 eb
BER = erfc
10–3
2 n0
BER

10–4

10–5

10–6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
eb
, in dB
n0

Figure A.2 Estimation for the BER.