Documentation sections

BER Calculator — Bit Error Rate from SNR

POSThttps://rftools.io/api/py/v1/calculate

Slug ber-snr. Free BER calculator for BPSK, QPSK, 8PSK, 16-QAM. Enter Eb/N0 to instantly compute bit error rate. Compare modulation schemes and optimize link performance.

Inputs

Send every one of these in inputs, in the units shown. Most are required: a call without one is refused (400) and costs nothing; one the calculator can do without takes the default shown. An input outside its range is still computed and flagged in the provenance.

Inputs of ber-snr
Name	Unit	Range	Default	Description
ebN0dBnumber	dB	−5 … 30	10	Energy per bit to noise density ratio. The fundamental SNR metric for digital communications.
modulationnumber	none	1 … 4	1	ModulationOne of: 1 BPSK · 2 QPSK · 3 8PSK · 4 16QAM
targetBernumber	none	1e-12 … 0.5	0.000001	The bit error rate the link must reach at or below. The status fails above 0.001.

Outputs

Returned in values, by key. A value that is unbounded or undefined is null.

Outputs of ber-snr
Field	Unit	Description
berheadline	none	Bit error rate (probability of bit error)
berLog10	none	Log base-10 of BER. e.g. −6 means BER = 10⁻⁶
bitsPerSymbol	bits/symbol	Number of bits per modulation symbol

Calling it

Calculate: one call, the request and response in full, and its errors.
Batch: this calculator with others, or a sweep, in one request.
Solve for a target: the value of one input that brings an output to a target.

curl -X POST https://rftools.io/api/py/v1/calculate \
  -H "X-API-Key: $RFTOOLS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "slug": "ber-snr",
    "inputs": {
      "ebN0dB": 10,
      "modulation": 1,
      "targetBer": 0.000001
    }
  }'

import rftools

client = rftools.Client()  # reads RFTOOLS_API_KEY, or the key `rftools login` saved

result = client.calculate("ber-snr", {"ebN0dB": 10, "modulation": 1, "targetBer": 0.000001})
print(result.values)
print(result.warnings, result.provenance.formula_ref)

const response = await fetch("https://rftools.io/api/py/v1/calculate", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    "X-API-Key": process.env.RFTOOLS_API_KEY,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    "slug": "ber-snr",
    "inputs": {
      "ebN0dB": 10,
      "modulation": 1,
      "targetBer": 0.000001
    }
  }),
});
console.log(response.status, await response.json());

package main

import (
	"bytes"
	"fmt"
	"io"
	"net/http"
	"os"
)

func main() {
	body := []byte(`{
	  "slug": "ber-snr",
	  "inputs": {
	    "ebN0dB": 10,
	    "modulation": 1,
	    "targetBer": 0.000001
	  }
	}`)
	req, err := http.NewRequest("POST", "https://rftools.io/api/py/v1/calculate", bytes.NewReader(body))
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	req.Header.Set("X-API-Key", os.Getenv("RFTOOLS_API_KEY"))
	req.Header.Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
	res, err := http.DefaultClient.Do(req)
	if err != nil {
		panic(err)
	}
	defer res.Body.Close()
	out, _ := io.ReadAll(res.Body)
	fmt.Println(res.Status, string(out))
}

application/json

{
  "slug": "ber-snr",
  "values": {
    "ber": 0.000003872108215522035,
    "berLog10": -5.412052513773938,
    "bitsPerSymbol": 1
  },
  "warnings": [],
  "errors": [],
  "provenance": {
    "method": "calculator:ber-snr",
    "version": "api@3f2c1a9b04de",
    "formulaRef": null,
    "assumptions": [],
    "validRange": {
      "status": "inside",
      "bounds": {
        "ebN0dB": {
          "min": -5,
          "max": 30,
          "unit": "dB"
        },
        "modulation": {
          "min": 1,
          "max": 4,
          "unit": ""
        },
        "targetBer": {
          "min": 1e-12,
          "max": 0.5,
          "unit": ""
        }
      },
      "outside": [],
      "model": null
    },
    "computedAt": "2026-09-24T14:05:11.003Z",
    "inputs": {
      "ebN0dB": 10,
      "modulation": 1,
      "targetBer": 0.000001
    },
    "seed": null,
    "elapsedSeconds": 0.003
  }
}

{
  "detail": [
    {
      "type": "float_parsing",
      "loc": [
        "body",
        "inputs",
        "ebN0dB"
      ],
      "msg": "Input should be a valid number, unable to parse string as a number",
      "input": "abc"
    }
  ]
}

An input sent as text. Nothing was counted.

{
  "detail": "More than 120 requests in 60 seconds from this address.",
  "errorKind": "rate_limited",
  "limit": 120,
  "windowSeconds": 60,
  "upgradeUrl": "https://rftools.io/pricing/"
}

Too many requests in a minute, with Retry-After.

Same inputs on the calculator pageBER Calculator — Bit Error Rate from SNR, at these values