Minimum-shift keying
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Minimum-shift keying (MSK) is a type of continuous phase frequency-shift keying.
Similarly to OQPSK, MSK is encoded with bits alternating between quarternary components, with the Q component delayed by half the symbol period. However, instead of square pulses as OQPSK uses, MSK encodes each bit as a half sinusoid. This results in a constant-modulus signal, which reduces problems caused by non-linear distortion.
The resulting signal is represented by the formula
where aI(t) and aQ(t) are the square pulses as shown in QPSK.
A similar modulation scheme is Gaussian minimum shift keying, which uses Gaussian instead of sinusoidal pulse shapes.