A Joint Receiver–Decoder for Convolutionally Coded Binary Phase-Shift Keying (BPSK)

This article presents a method to jointly estimate phase and data from a convolutionally coded binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) signal with random phase noise and additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). The joint receiver–decoder successfully decodes fully suppressed carrier signals in harsh phase-noise environments. A complete description is given of the software implementation, including the generation of statistically accurate phase-noise samples. Numerical results are given for the NASA standard (7,1/2) convolutional code and frequency-flicker-dominated phase noise. For phase-noise levels of −10.58, −1.55, and 7.48 dB rad /Hz at a 1-Hz offset, a data rate of 40 b/s, and a bit-error rate (BER) of 0.01, the joint receiver–decoder saves 3 to 4.25 dB of power over a nonjoint approach.