Abstract: Previous analyses of fractal modulation were carried out mostly from a signle perspective or a subband, but the analyses from the perspective of multiscale synthesis have not been found yet; while multiscale synthesis is just the essence of the mutlirate diversity which is the most important characteristic of fractal modulation. As for the mutlirate diversity of fractal modulation, previous studies only dealt with the general outspread of its concept, lacked the thorough and intensive quantitative comparison and analysis. In light of the above fact, from the perspective of multiscale synthesis, in this paper we provide a comprehensive analysis of the multirate diversity of fractal modulation and corresponding quantitative analysis. The results show that mutlirate diversity, which is a fusion of frequency diversity and time diversity, pays an acceptable price in spectral efficiency in exchange for a significant improvement in bit error rate. It makes fractal modulation particularly suitable for the channels whose bandwidth and duration parameters are unknown or cannot be predicted to the transmitter. Surely it is clearly of great significance for reliable communications. Moreover, we also attain the ability to flexibly make various rate-bandwidth tradeoffs between the transmitter and the receiver, to freely select the reception time and to expediently control the total bandwidth. Furthermore, the acquisitions or improvements of these fine features could provide support of the technical feasibility for the electromagnetic spectrum control technology in a complex electromagnetic environment.

Key words: multirate diversity, fractal modulation, homogeneous signals, fractal signals