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CC1120 Bit Error Rate (BER)

Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC1120

Howdy E2E,


I have a question from the data sheet of the CC1120 pertaining to Bit Error Rates. The receiver sensitivity is -123dBm at 1.2kbps, but what BER is that associated with? I realize section 4.5 shows the Receive Parameters for various sensitivities all with a BER limit of 1%. I am looking for more specific BER at those different sensitivities or clarification of the data sheet concerning BER. Any further information about the BER of this device would be very helpful. My team is using the CC1120 for very long transmission of vital data, so these BER are important values for our customer's sake. 

Please ask additional questions if the problem is not fully understood.

  • What we actually measure in PER. We use a 3 byte payload and a 20 % PER limit when testing which correspond to ~1 % BER, see en.wikipedia.org/.../Bit_error_rate.
  • Please see my notes and clarify if it's correct:

    PER = 1 - (1-BER)^n
    n = 24 bits (3 byte payload)
    PER = 0.2 (20% Limit)

    0.2 = 1 - (1-BER)^24
    BER = 0.009 ~ 10^-2 ~ 1%

    These calculations and PER/BER values suggest that, in the worst case scenario, there will be 20 failed packets per 100 sent packets. Is all of this correct? This seems like a pretty high error rate. Is there anymore information about the PER of this device?
  • Yes, on the sensitivity limit 20 % of the 3 bytes packets will be lost. But remember this is the sensitivity limit, eq if you have a weaker signal you will not be able to receive anything. If the signal is ~2 dB stronger than the sensitivity limit the PER will be very close to 0, if not 0.