Tradeoffs of Source Coding, Channel Coding and Spreading in Frequency Selective Rayleigh Fading Channels

This paper investigates the tradeoffs of source coding, channel coding and spreading in CDMA systems. We consider a system consisting of an image source coder, a convolutional channel coder, an interleaver, and a direct sequence spreading module. With different allocations of bandwidth to source coding, channel coding and spreading, the system is analyzed over a frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel. The performance of the system is evaluated using the cumulative distribution function of peak signalto-noise ratio. Tradeoffs of different components of the system are determined through simulations. We show that, for a given bandwidth, an optimal allocation of that bandwidth can be found. Tradeoffs among the parameters allow us to tune the system performance to specific requirements.