Bit error probability of the M-QAM scheme subject to multilevel (double) gated additive white Gaussian noise and Nakagami-m fading

Abstract

In this paper, noise models called multilevel gated additive white Gaussian noise (GAWGN) and multilevel double gated additive white Gaussian noise ( $$\hbox {G}^{2}$$ AWGN) are adopted, corresponding to the sum of a white Gaussian component of variance $$\sigma _{g}^{2}$$ and a white Gaussian noise component of variance $$\sigma _{i}^2$$ gated by a discrete random process defined in continuous time, C(t), which takes values into a finite discrete set. A channel subject to this noise combined with the Nakagami-m fading can be used to characterize links in several environments subject to noise caused by different sources and with different intensities. In this work, new exact and closed-form expressions are presented for the bit error probability (BEP) of the M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation scheme (M-QAM) subject to Nakagami-m fading and multilevel GAWGN or multilevel $$\hbox {G}^{2}$$ AWGN. The BEP curves are presented for different parameters that characterize mathematically the channel, corroborated by simulations performed with the Monte Carlo method.