JPL's Wireless Communication Reference Website Slide Show

Optimal Packet length

Packet duration < av. non-fade duration

Gilbert-Elliot: assume exponential, memoryless nonfade durations

(this is an approximation:

in reality many nonfade periods have duration l/2)

Successful reception if

Above threshold at start of packet
No fade starts before packet ends

with T_L packet duration

For a large fade margin: second term dominates:

Performance improves only slowly with increasing h
Outage probability is too optimistic

JPL's Wireless Communication Reference Website © Jean-Paul M.G. Linnartz, 1993, 1995.