BER of Rectangular QAM signals with MRC over Correlated Nakagami Fading Channels

The average bit error rate (HER) performance of a Gray coded arbitrary rectangular quadrature amplitude modulation (AR-QAM) signal with maximal ratio combining (MRC) diversity in an arbitrarily correlated Nakagami-m fading channel is derived and analyzed. The derived two types of general solutions are a simple closed-form and an integral form, depending on the types of the values (integer and non-integer) of the fading parameter. Using the derived equations in this paper, we analyzed the HER performances numerically based on the practical base station antenna configuration. The results show that MRC reception is a very effective scheme so far even though the combined signals are not independent each other because of the correlation values. The antenna height and separation of the MRC system relate to the correlation coefficient value between antennas, and go a long way with the diversity advantage. In particular, it is needed to be determined the antenna height that is carefully do for the diversity advantage because the correlation coefficient and the antenna height gain are contrary to each other from the aspect of the system performance. The expressions presented here can offer a convenient way to evaluate the exact HER performance of an arbitrary rectangular QAM signal with MRC diversity reception for various cases of practical interest on a correlated Nakagami fading channel.