Problem 5.

3 A receiver decision statistic Y in a communication system is modeled as expo-

nential with mean 1 if 0 is sent, and as exponential with mean 10 if 1 is sent. Assume that we
send 0 with probability 0.6.
(a) Find the conditional probability that Y > 5, given that 0 is sent.
(b) Find the conditional probability that Y > 5, given that 1 is sent.
(c) Find the unconditional probability that Y > 5.
(d) Given that Y > 5, what is the probability that 0 is sent?
(e) Given that Y = 5, what is the probability that 0 is sent?

Problem 5.4 Channel codes are constructed by introducing redundancy in a structured fashion.
A canonical means of doing this is by introducing parity checks. In this problem, we see how
one can make inferences based on three bits b1 , b2 , b3 which satisfy a parity check equation:
b1 ⊕ b2 ⊕ b3 = 0. Here ⊕ denotes an exclusive or (XOR) operation.
(a) Suppose that we know that P [b1 = 0] = 0.8 and P [b2 = 1] = 0.9, and model b1 and b2 as
independent. Find the probability P [b3 = 0].
(b) Define the log likelihood ratio (LLRs) for a bit b as LLR(b) = log PP [b=1]
[b=0]
. Setting Li =
LLR(bi ), i = 1, 2, 3, find an expression for L3 in terms of L1 and L2 , again modeling b1 and b2
as independent.

Problem 5.5 A bit X ∈ {0, 1} is repeatedly transmitted using n independent uses of a binary
symmetric channel (i.e., the binary channel in Figure 5.2 with a = b) with crossover probability
a = 0.1. The receiver uses a majority rule to make a decision on the transmitted bit. Derive
general expressions as a function of n (assume that n is odd, so there are no ties in the majority
rule), and substitute n = 5 for numerical results and plots.
(a) Let Z denote the number of ones at the channel output. (Z takes values 0, 1, ..., n.) Specify
the probability mass function of Z, conditioned on X = 0.
(b) Conditioned on X = 0, what is the probability of deciding that one was sent (i.e., what is
the probability of making an error)?
(c) Find the posterior probabilities P [X = 0|Z = m], m = 0, 1, ..., n, assuming that 0 or 1 are
equally likely to be sent. Do a stem plot against m.
(d) Repeat (c) assuming that the 0 is sent with probability 0.9.
(e) As an alternative visualization, plot the LLR log PP [X=0|Z=m]
[X=1|Z=m]
versus m for (c) and (d).

Received
Transmitted 1−p−q−r +3
0 r
q +1
p
p q
r −1
1
1−p−q−r −3
Figure 5.27: Two-input four-output channel for Problem 5.6.

Problem 5.6 Consider the two-input, four-output channel with transition probabilities shown
in Figure 5.27. In your numerical computations, take p = 0.05, q = 0.1, r = 0.3. Denote the

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