IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, VOL. 17, NO.
12, DECEMBER 2013
Generalized BER Expression of MPSK in the Presence of Phase Error
Yeonsoo Jang, Dongweon Yoon, and Sang-Kon Lee
Abstract—In this letter, we derive an exact and general closed-
form expression for the bit error rate (BER) of Gray coded M-ary
phase shift keying (MPSK) in the presence of a fixed phase error.
We also propose a very simple and tight approximate expression
from the derived exact expression. To validate the exactness of the
proposed exact and general expression and the tightness of the
proposed approximation, we compare the results obtained from
the proposed expressions with those from computer simulations.
We also present the average BER results of MPSK for random
phase errors caused by phase-locked loop or imperfect channel
estimation by using the derived expressions.
Index Terms—Bit error rate, phase shift keying, phase error.
I. I NTRODUCTION
I n a coherent communication system, phase error degrades
the bit error rate (BER) performance. The BER of M-ary
phase shift keying (MPSK) is especially sensitive to phase
error and it is more critical to high-order MPSK. The exact
performance evaluation for the BER of MPSK in the presence
of phase error is therefore significant for analytic purposes.
Generally, deriving the exact and general expression for the
BER of MPSK with phase error is a complex work. When
perfect phase reference has been assumed, numerous exact or
approximate expressions for the BER of MPSK have been
presented in the literature [1]-[6]; however, an exact and
general closed-form expression for the BER of MPSK in the
presence of phase error has not yet been derived.
In this letter, we derive an exact and general closed-form
expression for the BER of MPSK in the presence of a fixed
phase error when Gray code bit mapping is employed, as an
extension of [6]. For analytic purposes, we also propose a
very simple and tight approximate expression from the derived
exact expression. To verify the derived exact expression and
approximation, we compare the results obtained from the
derived expressions with those from computer simulations.
Random phase errors inevitably occur in a coherent commu-
nication system. When random phase error occurs in a phase-
locked loop (PLL), the probability density function (pdf) of
the phase error is assumed to have Tikhonov distribution
and the phase error degrades BER performance [7]-[9]. And
if channel estimation is not perfect, a random phase error
caused by the imperfect channel estimation also degrades
BER performance [10], [11]. In these cases, average BER is
obtained by integrating the BER expression for a given phase
Manuscript received July 1, 2013. The associate editor coordinating the
review of this letter and approving it for publication was H. Suraweera.
This research was partially supported by the MKE, Korea, under the CITRC
support program (NIPA-2013-H0401-13-1008) supervised by the NIPA.
Y. Jang and D. Yoon are with the Department of Electronic
Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea (e-mail: {ysjang83,
dwyoon}@hanyang.ac.kr). D. Yoon is the corresponding author.
S. Lee is with the Department of Satellite Electronics, Korea Aerospace
Research Institute, Daejeon, Korea (e-mail: skon@kari.re.kr).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LCOMM.2013.102913.131514
1089-7798/13$31.00 
2213
error against the pdf of the phase error. To show the effects
of the random phase errors on the average BER performance,
we also present the average BER of MPSK for random phase
errors caused by PLL or imperfect channel estimation, using
the derived exact expression and approximation.
II. D ERIVATION OF BER E XPRESSION
Most recently, [6] reported an exact BER expression of
MPSK over additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel
assuming perfect phase reference. The perfect phase reference
implies that there are no phase shifts of original signal points,
and results in a symmetrical signal constellation. When the
phase reference is not perfect, however, signal points are
shifted by the phase error, and the symmetry of the MPSK
constellation is not maintained. When phase error exists, a
general expression is needed for evaluating the exact bit error
probability of MPSK considering the effects of the phase error
because the BER expression for perfect phase reference is not
applicable in such a case. In this section, we derive an exact
and general BER expression of MPSK in the presence of phase
error. The exact and general BER expression of MPSK with
phase error can be written as
log2 M
1 
PMP SK (e|θ) = Pk (e|θ), (1)
log2 M
k=1
where Pk (e|θ) is the bit error probability of the k-th bit
for a given phase error. In subsections A, B, and C, we
analyze the effect of phase error on signal constellation of
MPSK and derive an exact and general BER expression of
MPSK in the presence of phase error. To generalize an exact
BER expression of MPSK for phase error, we first derive the
BER expressions of 4-PSK and 8-PSK when the phase error
occurs, which are involved with one-dimensional and two-
dimensional (1-D and 2-D) Gaussian Q-functions. Based on
the regularity of coefficient patterns for 1-D and 2-D Gaussian
Q-functions, we derive an exact and general BER expression
of MPSK. From the derived exact and general expression, we
also propose a simple approximate expression.
A. BER Expression of 4-PSK
We start with a simple case. Fig. 1 shows a signal constel-
lation of 4-PSK, where Si , i = 0, 1, 2, 3 are complex signal
points in a 4-PSK constellation. As an example of a bit error
probability with phase error, we present an error probability
for the second bit. The error probability for the second bit is
determined by the distances between signal points (S0 , S3 )
and the I-axis. As shown in Fig. 1, when phase error occurs,
the distance d0 between S0 and the I-axis increases, and the
distance d3 between S3 and the I-axis decreases. Thus, the
distances relating to the decision errors of S0 and S3 should
be respectively considered, and the bit error probabilities for
c 2013 IEEE
2214 IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, VOL. 17, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2013

Fig. 1. Signal constellation of 4-PSK. Fig. 2. Coordinate rotations and decision regions for the 3rd bit of 8-PSK.

S0 and S3 should be averaged for the error probability for the the coordinate rotations, the error probability for the third
second bit. The error probability for the first bit is equal to bit can be evaluated as Pr {Y1 ≥ 0} + Pr {Y2 ≤ 0} − 2 ·
that for the second bit. Considering the phase-shifted signal Pr {Y1 ≥ 0, Y2 ≤ 0} [6]. X1 and Y1 √become joint Gaussian
points, the bit error probability for the first and second bits random variables
√ with E [X1 ] = Es cos (π/8 + θ) and
(k=1 and 2) can be obtained as E [Y1 ] = Es sin (π/8 + θ), where Es = Eb log2 M is
  π  the symbol energy. X2 and Y2 also become joint Gaus-
Pk (e|θ) = 12 Q 4Eb
sin + θ √
 N0  4 sian random variables with E [X ] = E cos (3π/8 − θ)
 (2) √ 2 s
+Q 4Eb 3π and E [Y2 ] = − Es sin (3π/8 − θ).√ In the case of
N0 sin 4 + θ ,
S3 , E √ [X1 ] and E [Y1 ] become − Es cos (3π/8 + θ)
where Eb /N0 is the signal-to-noise ratio per bit. For 4-PSK, and
√ − Es sin (3π/8 + θ).√ E [X2 ] and E [Y2 ] become
(2) requires two 1-D Gaussian Q-functions. − Es cos (π/8 − θ) and Es sin (π/8 − θ). Considering
joint pdfs for each symbol, the BER expression for the third
B. BER Expression of 8-PSK bit is obtained as
  π 
6Eb
Here we consider the BER expression of 8-PSK in the P3 (e|θ) = 12 Q N0 sin 8 + θ
presence of phase error. Considering the phase shifted signal   3π    5π 
6Eb 6Eb
points, the bit error probability for the first and second bits +Q sin + θ + Q sin + θ
 N0 8
 7π 
N0 8
(k=1 and 2) can be easily obtained as +Q 6Eb
sin 8 + θ
     N0
6Eb
π π   6E  3π  
Pk (e|θ) = 14 Q sin + − Q 6Eb
N0 sin 8 + θ , N0 sin 8 − θ ; −ρ
N0 8 θ b
   
6Eb
 3π 6Eb
 5π  π   6Eb  3π  
+Q N0 sin 8 + θ +Q N0 sin 8 + θ +Q 6Eb
sin − θ , sin + θ ; −ρ ,
  7π 
N0 8 N0 8
6Eb (4)
+Q N0 sin 8 + θ .
(3) where ρ = cos ((3π/8) + (π/8)) is the correlation coefficient.
For 8-PSK, (3) requires four 1-D Gaussian Q-functions.
The exact bit error probability for the third bit (k=3) can C. BER Expression of MPSK
be expressed involving 1-D and 2-D Q-functions. The 1-D Q- Considering features of the preceding examples, we can
function expression for k=3 is obtained in the same way as generalize the expressions for the exact BER of MPSK in the
the expression for the first and second bits, and the expression presence of phase error. The coefficient of the 1-D Q-function
involving the 2-D Q-function can be obtained by coordinate for the BER expression of MPSK shows regular patterns for
rotations [6]. Fig. 2 shows coordinate rotations and decision modulation order and the 2-D Q-function is extended by the
regions for the third bit of 8-PSK. When bit ‘0’ is transmitted phase-shifted signal points. Thus, the exact and general bit
as the third bit of a symbol, error occurs if the receiver decides error probability for the k-th bit of MPSK with phase error
that the transmitted symbol should be among S1 , S2 , S5 , and can be presented as an expression involving 1-D and 2-D Q-
S6 which are in the shadowed regions in Fig. 2. In the functions as
absence of phase error, the third bit error probabilities for
S0 , S3 , S4 , and S7 all have the same expression because of M
−1   
2
2Eb log2 M ϕ1 (n)π
their symmetry. When phase error exists, the third bit error Pk (e|θ) = C1 (n) · Q N0 sin M +θ
probability for S0 is the same as that for S4 , and that for n=0
S3 is the same as for S7 , however, error probability for the
1
M
(2
−1)−1
2k
k−2

third bit of S0 (or S4 ) is different from S3 (or S7 ), because + u (k − 3) · 12 {C2 (l)

 i=0
 l=0 
the symmetry of the constellation is not maintained. Thus, 2Eb log2 M ϕ2 (l)π i
the bit error probabilities for S0 and S3 should be averaged ·Q N0 sin M + (−1) θ ,
   
for the error probability for the third bit. To obtain the error 2Eb log2 M ϕ3 (l)π i+1
probability for the third bit of S0 , we consider two rotations N0 sin M + (−1) θ ; −ρ ,
of coordinates, from (I, Q) to (X1 , Y1 ) and (X2 , Y2 ). After (5)
JANG et al.: GENERALIZED BER EXPRESSION OF MPSK IN THE PRESENCE OF PHASE ERROR 2215

f (n)
where C1 (n) =  2k−1+1/k  /M 3−k· (−1) ,
 k+1    2  +k−3
C2 (l) = 2 /M · 1 + (4l/M) + 1/2 ·
(−1)3/k+l·2 /M  , ϕ1 (n) = 2n + 1,ϕ2 (l) = M/2 − 2l −
k−1

log M−k h
2 · (−1)
l/2h +1
1, ϕ3 (l) = 2log2 M−k+1 + h=02 ,
 k−1

ρ = cos ((ϕ2 (l) + ϕ3 (l)) π/M ), f (n) = n · 2 /M +
4 · n/M  · (1 + 1/k + 2/k), and u (·) is the unit step
function.
The coefficients C2 (n), ϕ1 (n), ϕ2 (n), and ϕ3 (n) are
obtained from [6]. The coefficient C1 (n), however, cannot
be obtained from [6] because (5) is a general expression for
determining the bit error probability for all k in the presence
of phase error, while [6] presented two expressions for k=1,2
and k ≥ 3, separately. We can find the coefficient C1 (n) Fig. 3. BER of MPSK for fixed phase errors.
by observing the regularity of C1 (n). The regular patterns
of C1 (n) can be summarized as follows: The number of
C1 (n) is equal to M/2 for all k. The magnitude of C1 (n) is Thus, we can reduce (6) to
2/M for k=1,2 and when k increases by 1, the magnitude of M/2−1

1
2Eb log2 M
C1 (n) doubles for k ≥ 2. From patterns for the magnitude PMP SK (e|θ) ≈ log2 M Q N0
of C1 (n), we can obtain |C1 (n)| = 2k−1+1/k /M . The  n=0  (7)
signs of C1 (n) are +1 for k=1,2,3, and follow mirror- · sin (2n+1)π
M +θ .
image patterns for k ≥ 4. For example, if M=16 and When M=2 or M=4, (6) and (7) are the same. Note that when
k=4, the signs of C1 (n) are +1+1-1-1 -1-1+1+1. This  there is no phase error, i.e., θ = 0, (7) reduces to [3, eq. (12)]

is because Q 2Eb log2 M/N0 sin ((2n + 1) π/M ) , derived by using signal space concepts.
n=0,1,...,M/4-1
 for the non-phase error case is replaced  Since (7) is a simple and tight approximate expression, it is

by 1/2 Q 2Eb log2 M/N0 sin ((2n + 1) π/M + θ) useful for evaluating the average error probabilities for random
  phase errors. If the pdf of phase error is p (θ), a very tight
+Q 2Eb log2 M/N0 sin ((M − (2n + 1)) π/M + θ) ,
approximated average BER can be obtained by integrating the
n=0,1,...,M/4-1 for the phase error case. Thus, the sign of BER expression of (7) against the pdf of phase error p (θ) as
f (n)
 1 (n)k−1can be represented by (−1)
C , where f (n) is 
n·2 /M + 4 · n/M  · (1 + 1/k + 2/k). Note that 

M/2−1
2Eb log2 M
PMP SK (e) ≈ log1 M Q
when θ = 0 (no phase error), (5) reduces to [6, eq. (11)] for  
2
n=0
N0
(8)
k=1,2 and to [6, eq. (13)] for k ≥ 3, respectively. · sin (2n+1)π
+ θ · p (θ) dθ.
M
Finally, substituting (5) into (1), we obtain the exact and
general BER expression of MPSK with a fixed phase error as Unfortunately, (8) may not reduce to a closed form in general
because of the complexity of p (θ), but the numerical eval-
uation of the average BER of MPSK through (8) has a low

log

2MM/2−1

computational complexity because the integrand of (8) relating
PMP SK (e|θ) = log1 M C1 (n) to the BER expression with phase error only requires 1-D Q-
2
k=1 n=0
   functions.
2Eb log2 M ϕ1 (n)π
·Q N0 sin M + θ
III. N UMERICAL R ESULTS

1
M
2k
(2k−2

−1)−1 (6)
+ u (k − 3) · 12 {C2 (l) In this section, we present BER results of MPSK for fixed
 i=0
 l=0  phase errors by using the derived expressions and computer
2Eb log2 M ϕ2 (n)π i
·Q N0 sin M + (−1) θ , simulation to validate the derived expressions, and average
   
 BER results of MPSK for random phase errors by using the
2Eb log2 M ϕ3 (l)π i+1
N0 sin M + (−1) θ ; −ρ . derived exact expression and approximation.
Fig. 3 shows BER results of MPSK for fixed phase errors.
From Fig. 3, we can see the perfect match between the results
Note that because (6) is exact and general for modulation from the derived exact expression and those from computer
order M, phase error θ, and all k-th bits, it can be useful in simulations. We can also see excellent agreement between the
performance evaluation for various cases of practical interest. results from the proposed approximation and those from the
For analytic purposes, we can also reduce (6) to a very exact expression for all Eb /N0 when M=4, 8, 16, and 32,
simple and tight approximate expression. We can approxi- except for very low Eb /N0 when M=32. We can confirm that
mate C1 (n) ≈ 2k−1+1/k /M because an upper bound of the BER performance of MPSK with phase error is degraded
f (n)
2k−1+1/k /M · (−1) is equal to 2k−1+1/k /M . Also, more significantly as M and θ increase.
2-D Q-functions can be negligible in (6) because 1-D Q- When a random phase error occurs in PLL, the pdf of the
functions are dominant for evaluating the bit error probability. phase error, p (θ), is assumed to have Tikhonov distribution
2216
Fig. 4. Average BER of MPSK for Tikhonov distributed phase error.
Fig. 5. Average BER of MPSK for phase error caused by imperfect channel
estimation.
expressed as [7, eq. (33)]. In this case, when M=2, (8) reduces
to [8, eq. (3)], and when M=4, (8) reduces to [9, eq. (4)]. Fig. 4
provides the average BER of MPSK for Tikhonov distributed
phase error by using the proposed expressions. In practical
cases, the variance of Tikhonov pdf is assumed to be reciprocal
to signal-to-noise ratio α in the loop bandwidth, and in Fig.
4, we set α = 20 and 131 as in [8] and [9]. Note that when
M=2 and 4, (6) is the same as (7) as mentioned in section
II-C, so we depict the BER results for the exact expression if
M=2 and 4 in Fig. 4. We can confirm that the average BER
results of binary phase shift keying (BPSK) and quadrature
phase shift keying (QPSK) are different due to phase error,
as we expected, and see that the average BER of MPSK is
significantly degraded for M ≥ 4 when α = 20, and for
M ≥ 8 when α = 131.
If a random phase error is caused by imperfect channel
estimation, the pdf of the phase error, p (θ), can be expressed
as [11, eq. (38)]. Fig. 5 depicts the average BER of MPSK
for the phase error caused by imperfect channel estimation,
adopting correlation coefficients of channel estimation of 0.99
and 0.999 as in [11]. When the correlation coefficient is 0.999,
IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, VOL. 17, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2013
from Fig. 5, we can confirm that for low Eb /N0 , the average
BERs of BPSK and QPSK are almost the same because
AWGN is more dominant than phase error in the degradation
of BER. For high Eb /N0 , however, those are different because
phase error is a dominant factor on the degradation of BER for
high Eb /N0 . When the correlation coefficient is 0.99, which
causes large phase errors, the average BERs of BPSK and
QPSK are different for almost all Eb /N0 , because in this
case the effect of phase error on the degradation of BER
performance is more dominant than that of AWGN.
IV. C ONCLUSIONS
We derived a general and exact closed-form expression for
the BER of Gray coded MPSK in the presence of a fixed phase
error and validated the exact expression by computer simula-
tions. We also proposed a very simple and tight approximate
expression from the derived exact expression and validated the
near congruence of its results with those of the exact expres-
sion. In addition, we presented the average BER performance
of MPSK for random phase errors caused by PLL or imperfect
channel estimation by using the derived exact expression and
approximation. Since the derived exact expression is general
and the proposed approximate expression is very simple and
tight, they can readily allow BER performance evaluation of
MPSK for various cases of practical interest in communication
systems with phase error.
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