BLER (Block Erasure Rate)

Last updated on Mar 3, 2023

What is BLER?

Block Erasure Rate (BLER) is defined as the ratio of the number of blocks of data that are lost or corrupted during transmission to the total number of blocks transmitted. A block is a unit of data that is transmitted as a single entity over the wireless channel. The size of a block depends on the specific communication system being used and can range from a few bytes to several kilobytes.

When data is transmitted over a wireless channel, it is subject to various impairments such as noise, interference, fading, and attenuation. These impairments can cause errors in the received data, which can lead to the loss or corruption of entire blocks. BLER is a measure of how often this happens.

Why is BLER important?

BLER is an important parameter in wireless communication systems because it is closely related to the quality of the communication link. A high BLER indicates that a large number of blocks are being lost or corrupted during transmission, which means that the communication link is experiencing significant impairments. This can result in degraded performance, reduced data rates, and increased latency.

BLER is particularly important in systems that use forward error correction (FEC) to improve the reliability of the communication link. FEC is a technique that allows the receiver to correct errors in the received data by using redundant information that is transmitted along with the data. However, if too many blocks are lost or corrupted during transmission, the FEC may not be able to correct all of the errors, leading to a high BLER.

BLER is also important for system design and optimization. By measuring the BLER of a communication link, designers can assess the effectiveness of different techniques for mitigating impairments, such as adaptive modulation and coding, diversity techniques, and power control. Optimization of these techniques can help to reduce the BLER and improve the performance of the communication link.

How is BLER calculated?

BLER is calculated as the ratio of the number of blocks that are lost or corrupted during transmission to the total number of blocks transmitted. The total number of blocks transmitted can be calculated as the product of the number of packets transmitted and the number of blocks per packet. The number of packets transmitted is equal to the total amount of data transmitted divided by the packet size, while the number of blocks per packet is equal to the packet size divided by the block size.

BLER can be measured in several ways, depending on the specific communication system being used. In some systems, BLER can be measured directly by monitoring the number of block errors reported by the receiver. In other systems, BLER can be estimated by measuring other parameters such as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), the received signal strength indicator (RSSI), or the bit error rate (BER).

In systems that use FEC, the BLER can be estimated using the FEC decoder output. The FEC decoder attempts to correct errors in the received data by using redundant information that is transmitted along with the data. The number of corrected errors can be used to estimate the BLER. If the FEC decoder is unable to correct all of the errors, the uncorrected errors can be counted as lost blocks.

Conclusion

Block Erasure Rate (BLER) is an important parameter in wireless communication systems that helps to quantify the quality of the communication link. It is a measure of the number of blocks of data that are lost or corrupted during transmission over a wireless channel. BLER is important for assessing the effectiveness of different techniques for mitigating impairments, designing and optimizing communication systems, and measuring the quality of the communication link. BLER can be calculated by measuring the number of blocks that are lost or corrupted during transmission, and it can be estimated using different parameters depending on the specific communication system being used.