Carrier-Tracking Loop Performance for Quaternary and Binary PSK Signals

By expressing the open-loop response voltage as a Fourier series in terms of the phase-tracking error and then utilizing a very useful mean-value expression, we assess the performance of loops suited to recovering the carrier of four-phase (quaternary) and two-phase (binary) phase-shift-keyed (QPSK and BPSK) signals. At high signal to noise ratios (SNRs) they perform comparably, but at low SNRs the former's performance deteriorates much more rapidly. The loop's ability to maintain the carrier frequency despite the noise accompanying the PSK signal is measured by the mean and the variance of the oscillator's control voltage. In particular, Spilker's loop for QPSK and the Costas loop for BPSK signals are discussed.