Finite-state Markov modeling of Gamma-Gamma fading FSO links with pointing errors

Abstract

The knowledge of atmospheric channel is quite imperative for free-space optical (FSO) communications. To capture the time-varying essence of intensity fluctuations in an FSO connection, we propose a finite-state Markov (FSM) model for FSO links affected by Gamma-Gamma distributed atmospheric turbulence and pointing errors. First, the level crossing rate (LCR) of the unified intensity fluctuation is derived considering the non-generic channel autocorrelation characteristics, based on which the state transition probability (STP) matrix of the FSM model is calculated. Then, numerical simulations are presented for different strength parameters and frequency parameters of the channel. The results show that the misalignment strength does not affect the ratio of the level where the LCR reaches its maximum to the mean level. Finally, a series of well-designed experiments are carried out to verify the theory. As a result, the theoretical predictions conform to the experimental data, with averaged STP relative errors below 6.7%.