Hybrid ARQ schemes for point-to-multipoint communication overnonstationary broadcast channels

Hybrid automatic-repeat-request (ARQ) error control schemes make use of both error detection and error correction in order to achieve high throughput and low undetected error probabilities on two way channels. Two hybrid ARQ schemes, termed hybrid go-back-N (HGB- N) and hybrid selective-repeat (HSR), are proposed for point-to-multipoint communications over broadcast channels. Both schemes incorporate a concatenated code for error correction and error detection. The performance study of the hybrid schemes is based on a two-state Markov model of a burst noise channel. An analytic solution is derived for the throughput efficiency of the HSR scheme, while approximations and computer simulation are used to evaluate the throughput efficiency of the HGB-N scheme. It is shown that the schemes perform considerably better than the corresponding pure ARQ schemes in which a block code is used for error detection only, especially in environments with a large number of receivers and large channel roundtrip delays, such as satellite broadcast links     

Multichannel ARQ protocols

The performance of stop-and-wait, go-back-N, and selective-repeat ARQ protocols is examined for a multichannel system. The channels can either operate independently or jointly. For each protocol, the results obtained include throughput efficiency and delay. The results are also validated by computer simulations. The performance is compared to that of the single-channel system under the constraint of fixed total capacity. It is observed that the multichannel system has a chance to outperform the single-channel system     

An Improved Selective-Repeat ARQ Strategy

A new procedure for handling retransmissions in a selective-repeat ARQ system is proposed. This procedure can operate with a receive buffer of minimal size; in addition it places little computational load on the transmit and receive processors. The procedure is simple enough that its throughput can be calculated exactly. Analysis of this strategy shows that: 1)it yields higher throughput than earlier ARQ techniques; 2) for modest receive buffer size, its throughput differs little from channel capacity; 3) as buffer size increases, throughput approaches channel capacity. The final section of the paper considers the performance of ARQ systems on channels in which errors occur in bursts. It indicates that on reasonably good channels, error burstiness has little effect on throughput.     

An Efficient Selective-Repeat ARQ Scheme for Satellite Channels and Its Throughput Analysis

In this paper, we investigate a selective-repeat ARQ scheme which operates with a finite receiver buffer and a finite range of sequence numbers. The throughput performance of the proposed scheme is analyzed and simulated based on the assumption that the channel errors are randomly distributed and the return channel is noiseless. Both analytical and simulation results show that it significantly outperforms the go-back-NARQ scheme, particularly for channels with large roundtrip delay and high data rate. It provides high throughput efficiency over a wide range of bit error rates. The throughput remains in a usable range even for very high error rate conditions. The proposed scheme is capable of handling data and/or acknowledgment loss. Furthermore, when buffer overflow occurs at the receiver, the transmitter is capable of detecting it and backs up to the proper location of the input queue to retransmit the correct data blocks.     

ARQ error control for fading mobile radio channels

In this paper, we study the correlation properties of the fading mobile radio channel. Based on these studies, we model the channel as a one-step Markov process whose transition probabilities are a function of the channel characteristics. Then we present the throughput performance of the Go-Back-N and selective-repeat automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocols with timer control, using the Markov model for both forward and feedback channels. This approximation is found to be very good, as confirmed by simulation results     

SR ARQ for adaptive modulation systems combined with selection transmit diversity

Adaptive automatic repeat request (ARQ) schemes are quite effective for throughput enhancement in time-varying mobile channel environments. In this paper, both throughput and packet error rate are analyzed for a selective-repeat ARQ scheme based on a constant-power variable-rate adaptive M-QAM system combined with selection transmit diversity over multiple-input multiple-output Markovian-Nakagami channels. In this analysis, the impact of using outdated and/or imperfect channel state information on the performance of the system is considered.     

Sequential decoding with ARQ and code combining: a robust hybridFEC/ARQ system

Sequential decoding with ARQ (automatic-repeat-request) and code combining under the timeout condition is considered. That is, whenever the decoding time of a given packet exceeds some predetermined duration, decoding is stopped and retransmission of the packet is requested. However, the unsuccessful packets are not discarded, but are combined with their retransmitted copies. It is shown that the use of code combining allows sequential decoding to operate efficiently even when the coding rate R exceeds the computational cutoff rate R _comp. Furthermore, an analysis of the selective-repeat ARQ scheme shows that the use of code combining yields a significant throughput even at very high channel error rates, thus making the system very robust under severe degradations of the channel     

Comparison of two ARQ protocols in a Rayleigh fading channel

Go-back-N (GBN) and selective repeat (SR) protocols for automatic repeat request (ARQ) are compared in a frequency-nonselective Rayleigh fading channel. Protocols implemented in software are used in a computer-simulated fading channel to study the throughput of these protocols as a function of fading parameters, such as the mean signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), maximum Doppler frequency number of diversity branches, time-out period and round-trip delay. The purpose is to complement well-documented theoretical work in (1) providing some design considerations and (2) investigating quantitatively whether data communications combining detection-only coding, diversity, and basic ARQ protocols can offer reasonable throughput in a fading channel. Although based on a set of assumptions, the following conclusions remain valid: (1) SR is significantly superior to GBN when the fading rate is high; this advantage decreases as fading becomes slower; and (2) error detection combined with ARQ and diversity selection can provide reliable data communications in a Rayleigh fading channel     

Performance of Hybrid ARQ Schemes with ML Code Combining over a Block-Fading Rayleigh Channel

This paper considers two well-known selective-repeat retransmission schemes, namely, hybrid type-I ARQ and hybrid type-II ARQ, using convolutional coding, in conjunction with maximum-likelihood code combining. Our theoretical analysis, based upon the concept of generalized weight distribution, shows that the use of code combining yields a significant throughput at very high channel error rates not only in constant AWGN channels but also in fading channels. To demonstrate this, we consider a widely-used block-fading Rayleigh channel model, in which the channel is assumed to be constant during each block of data and the fading is assumed to be independent from block to block. A key parameter in designing retransmission protocols for delay-limited applications in such channels is the minimum number of retransmissions, needed to achieve error-free decoding at almost all channel conditions (low outage probability). This number can be reduced significantly when code combining is employed.     

A Modified Selective-Repeat Type-II Hybrid ARQ System and Its Performance Analysis

The hybrid ARQ scheme with parity retransmission for error control, recently proposed by Lin and Yu [1], [2], is quite robust. This scheme provides both high system throughput and high system reliability. In this paper, a modified Lin-Yu hybrid ARQ scheme is presented. The modified scheme provides a slightly better throughput performance than the original Lin-Yu scheme; however, it is more flexible in utilizing the error-correction power of a code. The modified scheme can be incorporated with a rate 1/2 convolutional code using Viterbi decoding. Furthermore, the pure selectiverepeat ARQ is a degenerated case of the modified scheme in selective mode. Lin and Yu analyzed their scheme only for a receiver buffer of sizeNwhereNis the number of data blocks that can be transmitted in a round-trip delay interval. No analysis for other buffer sizes was given. In this paper, the throughput performance of the modified Lin-Yu scheme is analyzed for any size of receiver buffer. Consequently, the throughput efficiency of the pure selective-repeat ARQ for any receiver buffer size can be obtained. We also show that the modified scheme achieves the same order of reliability as a pure ARQ scheme.     

Waiting time and queue length distributions for go-back-N andselective-repeat ARQ protocols

The paper provides a performance analysis of automatic-repeat-request (ARQ) protocols in connection-oriented transmission. Each message arriving at a transmitter is divided into several packets, which are continuously transmitted to a receiver according to go-back-N ARQ or selective-repeat ARQ protocols. Because of connection-oriented transmission, messages are served on a first come first served basis, i.e., transmission of a message is commenced after all packets in the previous message are successfully transmitted. For the two ARQ protocols, the authors derive the probability generating functions of message waiting time and queue length at an arbitrary instant, from which the average performance measures are explicitly obtained     

Performance of Hybrid Error Control Schemes of Satellite Channels

The effectiveness of hybrid error control schemes involving forward error correction (FEC) and automatic repeat request (ARQ) is examined for satellite channels. The principal features of the channel are: large round-trip transmission delay due to the satellite link, and burst errors introduced by the terrestrial links that connect the users to the satellite link. The performance is estimated for two channels described by Fritchman's simple partitioned finite-state Markov model, and is compared to that obtainable if the channel is considered as a binary symmetric channel of the same bit error probability. Results show that the hybrid schemes offer substantial improvement over ARQ and FEC, and that an optimum exists for the number of errors corrected to obtain maximum throughput efficiency.     

Performance Analysis of the Selective Repeat ARQ Protocol

Delay, queue length, and throughput are the main performance characteristics of a data transmission system with ARQ (automaticrepeat-request) error control. Various protocols which have been proposed use, as a part or as a whole, the basic selective-repeat ARQ protocol. Their performance analysis has, however, been restricted to the throughput characteristics. An easily applicable method to analyze this basic protocol has not appeared in the literature so far. In this paper, two different methods for the queue length and delay analysis are presented. The system is modeled as a discrete time queue with infinite buffer storage. Transmission errors are considered to be independent, and block arrivals may follow an arbitrary interarrival time distribution. The first method uses an exact Markov state model, on which the theory of absorbing and ergodic Markov chains is applied, and leads to a computational algorithm. The second method, which is based on a specific assumption, uses a substantially simpler stochastic model and results in equations which are easily solved by means of iterative computation. In the case of geometrically distributed interarrival times, simple analytical formulas are extracted. The results are compared to the exact ones (that is, those obtained by the first method or by extended simulation runs) and surprising agreement is observed.     

Analysis and optimization of adaptive multicopy transmission ARQprotocols for time-varying channels

This paper outlines an efficient method to concurrently optimize a multiplicity of design variables for continuous selective-repeat (SR) and go-back-N (GBN) automatic repeat request (ARQ) strategies, both in noiseless and noisy feedback channels. For these ARQ protocols, we adapt either the number of identical message blocks sent in each transmission (in the case of GBN scheme) or the number of copies of a block retransmitted to handle a NACKed codeword (for the SR protocol) dynamically to the estimated channel condition. The channel state information is obtained by counting the contiguous acknowledgment (ACK or NACK) messages. Exploiting the asymptotic properties of the steady state probability expressions, we show analytically that the optimum solution indeed lies in the infinite space. Subsequently, a simple expression to estimate the suboptimal design parameters is suggested. Our approach of minimizing the mean-square error function yields to a quantitative study of the appropriateness of the selected parameters. Exact analytical expressions that allows us to compute the throughput crossover probability between any two arbitrary multicopy transmission modes are derived. The results provide fundamental insights into how these key parameters interact and determine the system performance     

A selective ARQ protocol with a finite-length buffer

Of the automatic-repeat-request (ARQ) techniques commonly used in communication systems, selective protocols, while the most efficient, have the notable drawback of requiring large buffers at the receiver side. A selective ARQ protocol with a finite-length buffer is described. If N is the number of codewords transmittable in the round-trip delay, the protocol requires a buffer length N+N_a , N_a⩾2 being an integer. A lower bound on the throughput of the protocol is derived. It achieves higher throughputs than similar schemes giving results comparable to those for selective protocols with infinite-length buffer for high error rates in the communication channel     

Performance evaluation of the generalized type-II hybrid ARQ schemewith noisy feedback on Markov channels

The generalized type-II hybrid automatic repeat request (ARQ) scheme on Markov channels is examined in order to study the effect of feedback channel errors on the performance of ARQ systems. It is shown that it is possible to derive expressions for certain critical performance parameters, such as the throughput efficiency, the probabilities of packet loss, undetected error, and correct delivery. To provide a means of comparison, a parallel set of expressions is provided under the usual assumption of an error-free feedback channel. By use of simulations, the ARQ system performance is examined under noiseless feedback and noisy feedback. It is found that feedback channel noise can result in the loss of packets, an increase in the number of undetected errors, and the occurrence of unnecessary transmissions. To enhance the performance of the GH-II ARQ scheme, a predictor is used and found to lower the probability of undetected error, reduce the number of unnecessary transmissions, and increase the throughput efficiency     

Throughput analysis of some ARQ protocols in the presence offeedback errors

Automatic-repeat-request (ARQ) protocols have been analyzed for quite some time, but the issue of errors in the feedback channel has not received much attention. In some applications, such as digital mobile communications, this issue can be important. Accordingly, this paper examines the effect of feedback errors on the throughputs of the stop-and-wait (SW), go-back-N (GBN), and selective repeat (SR) ARQ protocols for the ease of a point-to-point channel under some feedback information assumptions. It is shown that the deleterious effects of feedback errors on the throughputs of continuous (e.g., GBN and SR) ARQ protocols can be greatly reduced by a simple modification in the retransmission operation, provided that the “complete state” of the receiver is sent back with each acknowledgment     

An Adaptive Hybrid ARQ Scheme

A hybrid ARQ in which the transmitter adaptively selects an FEC code according to the channel condition is presented and analyzed. The code is selected according to the past transmissions and acknowledgements by an algorithm which is a generalization of that in [1]. The throughput is obtained as a function of the frame error rate for a general system employing the adaptive hybrid ARQ with acknowledgements that arrive instantly on an error-free return channel. The throughput is obtained as a function of the signal-to-noise ratio for an example quad rate system employing convolutional codes with non-coherent frequency shift keying over the uncorrelated Rayleigh fading channel. This allows the best choice for the parameters of the algorithm to be made. In the case that the channel bit errors are independent, the generalization offers performance improvement of less than 10% over that in [1]. But when the channel errors are bursty, as in the case of Rayleigh fading with finite bit interleaving, the generalization offers throughput improvement as high as 24%. We go on to consider incorporating code combining with the adaptive scheme to form an adaptive memory hybrid ARQ. Simulation of a system using complementary punctured convolutional codes with 4 code rates shows that 2-level code combining can extend the adaptive scheme's useful throughput into the low SNR region by approximately 4 dB.     

A go-back-N protocol for mobile communications

The author describes a go-back-N (GBN) protocol, which is a type of automatic repeat request (ARQ) technique. The protocol has a buffer and memory at the receiver side and offers low implementation complexity and a structure especially suited to mobile communications. The optimization of the protocol parameters is determined through numerical analysis. Performance is evaluated by computer simulation using a channel model suitable for mobile communications. The results show that the proposed ARQ scheme achieves a higher performance than that of other ARQ protocols and that at high error rates its efficiency compares favorably with selective repeat protocols having an infinite buffer