Effectiveness of PAM-4 Line Coding in Triplication-based Error Correction Codes under Harsh Electromagnetic Disturbances

In harsh electromagnetic environments, Error Detection and Correction Codes can be used to counteract transmission errors. However, the overhead introduced by Triplication-based codes can be detrimental for the communication capabilities of the system. This paper assesses if a Pulse Amplitude Modulation with 4 symbols (PAM-4) is worth using in harsh electromagnetic environments. It is found that some systems can benefit from PAM-4 in terms of availability, but a significant trade-off in terms of False Negatives must be made. A False Negative arises when the Error Detection and Correction Code deems the received data valid, whilst it was corrupted during transmission.