3D polarized modulation: system analysis and performance

Abstract

In this paper we present a novel modulation technique for dual polarization communication systems, which reduces the error rate compared with the existent schemes. This modulation places the symbols in a 3D constellation, rather than the classic approach of 2D. Adjusting the phase of these symbols depending on the information bits, we are able to increase the bit rate. Hence, the proposed scheme conveys information by selecting both polarization state and the phase of radiated electromagnetic wave. We also analyse the performance of 3D Polarized Modulation (PMod) for different constellation sizes and we obtain a curve of rate adaptation. Finally, we compare the proposed 3D PMod with other existing schemes such as single polarization Phase Shift Keying (PSK) and double polarization Vertical Bell Laboratories Layer Space-Time (V-BLAST), both carrying the same number of information bits. The results show that 3D PMod always outperforms all other schemes, except for low order modulation. Therefore, we can conclude that 3D PMod is an excellent candidate for medium and high modulation order transmissions.