Link Adaptation - Example

Example

In HSDPA link adaptation is performed by:

• choice of modulation type -- the link can employ QPSK for noisy channels and 16QAM for clearer channels. The former is more robust and can tolerate higher levels of interference but has lower transmission bit rate. The latter has twice higher bit rate but is more prone to errors due to interference and noise hence it requires stronger FEC (forward error correction) coding which in turn means more redundant bits and lower information bit rate;
• choice of FEC code rate -- the FEC code used has a rate of 1/3, but it can be varied effectively by bit puncturing and HARQ with incremental redundancy. When the radio link conditions are good more bits are punctured and the information bit rate is increased. In poor link conditions all redundant bits are transmitted and the information bit rate drops. In very bad link conditions retransmissions occur due to HARQ which ensure correct reception of the sent information but further slow down the bit rate.

Thus HSDPA adapts to achieve very high bit rates, of the order of 14 megabit/s, on clear channels using 16-QAM and close to 1/1 coding rate. On noisy channels HSDPA adapts to provide reliable communications using QPSK and 1/3 coding rate but the information bit rate drops to about 2.4 megabit/s. This adaptation is performed up to 500 times per second.