Alternate Benefit of Forward Error Correction

Abstract

The use of Forward Error Correction not only increases the link performance in a high noise environment but also provides an alternate solution for thermal management. A paper was presented in 2020 on a tri-band transmitter that briefly discussed thermal management. It was not obvious then that the use of forward error correction could be used to manage the thermal heating of the unit while still maintaining the RF link margin. This concept of using the benefit of coding gain to reduce the RF dissipation is applicable to many use cases that are prone to overheating. This paper explores the practicality around transmitter thermal management and some test results of using FEC as a possible alternate thermal control mechanism.