Effect of microdiversity and macrodiversity on average bit error probability in gamma-shadowed Rician fading channels

Abstract

In this letter, we analyze the error performance of a mobile communication system with microdiversity and macrodiversity reception in gamma-shadowed Rician fading channels for a binary differential phase-shift keying modulation scheme. Analytical expressions for the probability density function (PDF) and moment-generating function (MGF) are derived. The average bit error probability can be calculated by averaging the conditional bit error probability over the PDF or using the MGF-based approach. Numerical results are graphically presented to show the effects of macrodiversity, correlation, number of diversity branches, and severity of both fading and shadowing.