On the average of the product of two Gaussian Q functions over η − μ and κ − μ fading channels using MRC diversity reception

Abstract

In this study, the authors propose a simple and tighter approximation to an integral representing the average of the product of two Gaussian Q functions over parametric η - μ and κ - μ fading channels. This facilitates the symbol error probability computation of most of the coherent digital modulation techniques over η - μ and κ - μ fading distributions. In order to improve the error performance of these digital modulation schemes, maximal-ratio combining (MRC) diversity reception is also employed. Moreover, since η - μ and κ - μ are generic fading scenarios, the widely used popular fading models like Rayleigh, one-sided Gaussian, Nakagami-m, Nakagami-q and Rician can be unified under one umbrella. This study also gives an insight of the asymptotic approximations of the proposed integrals. In addition, the analytical framework is validated with the help of Monte Carlo simulations, which enables an easy practical implementation of the proposed work.