Statistical characterization of digital communication channels.

Bit error rate and eye diagram measurements have been the method of choice in routine characterization of digital communication channels. The bit error rate is the most critical parameter, but it does not provide insight into the digital channel's effect on transmitted signals. While an eye diagram reveals more information than a simple bit error rate, it is not meaningful unless the statistical characteristics of noise are completely known. In many situations the underlying assumptions behind eye diagram interpretation may not be justifiable. In order to supplement the conventional testing methods and improve upon their shortcomings, a general measurement tool has been developed to obtain direct statistical distributions of pulse shape parameters in addition to linear response functions and collections of severely degraded waveforms.