A Novel Ergodic Capacity Analysis of Diversity Combining and Multihop Transmission Systems over Generalized Composite Fading Channels

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new mathematical approach to precisely analyze the maximum reliable data transmission rate in complex wireless channels using various diversity and multihop techniques.

Contribution

It presents a novel moment generating function-based method for exact ergodic capacity analysis applicable to multiple diversity receivers and multihop transmission over generalized fading channels.

Findings

Unified analysis for diverse receivers and transmission methods

Exact ergodic capacity expressions derived for complex fading environments

Applicable to a wide range of digital radio communication systems

Abstract

Ergodic capacity is an important performance measure associated with reliable communication at the highest rate at which information can be sent over the channel with a negligible probability of error. In the shadow of this definition, diversity receivers (such as selection combining, equal-gain combining and maximal-ratio combining) and transmission techniques (such as cascaded fading channels, amplify-and-forward multihop transmission) are deployed in mitigating various performance impairing effects such as fading and shadowing in digital radio communication links. However, the exact analysis of ergodic capacity is in general not always possible for all of these forms of diversity receivers and transmission techniques over generalized composite fading environments due to it's mathematical intractability. In the literature, published papers concerning the exact analysis of ergodic capacity have been therefore scarce (i.e., only [1] and [2]) when compared to those concerning the exact analysis of average symbol error probability. In addition, they are essentially targeting to the ergodic capacity of the maximal ratio combining diversity receivers and are not readily applicable to the capacity analysis of the other diversity combiners / transmission techniques. In this paper, we propose a novel moment generating function-based approach for the exact ergodic capacity analysis of both diversity receivers and transmission techniques over generalized composite fading environments. As such, we demonstrate how to simultaneously treat the ergodic capacity analysis of all forms of both diversity receivers and multihop transmission techniques.