Performance Analysis of Diversity Combining Algorithms in Shadowed Fading Channels

A compound fading model incorporating short term fading and shadowing proposed recently is used to analyze the performance of wireless systems employing microscopic diversity to mitigate the effects of flat fading. This model can account for the presence of different levels of fading and shadowing and provide an analytical solution for the probability density function of the signal-to-noise ratio. Using that model, the performances of MRC and SC diversity combining algorithms were studied. The amount fading (AF) following diversity implementation was calculated and it is seen that the decline in the amount of fading is bound by the level of shadowing present, with the MRC providing a larger decrease in the amount of fading than the SC algorithm. The effect on the error rates was studied using the example of the coherent BPSK modem. Results show that the performances of wireless systems can be analyzed using the compound model for the shadowed fading channels. P.M. Shankar received his M. Sc (1972) in Physics from Kerala University, India, M. Tech (1975) in Applied Optics and Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering (1980) from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India. He was a visiting scholar at the School of Electrical Engineering, University of Sydney, Australia, from 1981 to 1982. He joined Drexel University in 1982 and is currently the Allen Rothwarf Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He is the author of the textbook ‘Introduction to Wireless Systems’, published by John Wiley & Sons, 2002. His research interests are in Fading Channels, Wireless communications, and Statistical signal processing for medical applications.