# A Novel Error Performance Analysis Methodology for OFDM-IM

## TL;DR

This paper introduces a new error performance analysis methodology for OFDM-IM using Craig's formula, replacing approximations to improve accuracy in calculating block and bit error rates.

## Contribution

It proposes an exact analytical approach for OFDM-IM error performance analysis by applying Craig's formula instead of traditional approximations.

## Key findings

- Enhanced accuracy in error rate calculations.
- Validation of the proposed methodology with numerical results.
- Improved analytical expressions for OFDM-IM error performance.

## Abstract

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing with index modulation (OFDM-IM) has become a high-profile candidate for the modulation scheme in next generation networks, and many works have been published to analyze it in recent years. Error performance is one of the most important and interesting aspects of OFDM-IM, which has been analyzed in most works. However, most of them employ two key approximations to derive the closed-form expressions of block error rate (BLER) and/or average bit error rate (BER). The first one is to utilize the union bound assisted by the pairwise error probability (PEP) analysis, and the second one is to employ an exponential approximation of Q-function. In this letter, we apply Craig's formula to analyze the error performance for OFDM-IM in place of the exponential approximation. Because Craig's formula is the exact expression of Q-function, the accuracy of analytical results regarding error performance for OFDM-IM can be improved. We examine the proposed error performance analysis methodology based on Craig's formula by investigating both average BLER and BER.