Another look at the performance of MRC schemes in Nakagami-m fading channels with arbitrary parameters

In this letter, we take a close look at the performance of maximal ratio combining (MRC) schemes operating in a flat-Nakagami-m fading environment with arbitrary fading parameters. We derive an expression for the probability density function (pdf) of the output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) by expressing the moment generating function of the output SNR in the form of multiple Barnes-type contour integrals. By evaluating the inverse transform and converting the multiple contour integrals into infinite series, we are able to derive an expression for the pdf of the output SNR when the Nakagami fading parameters along the diversity branches take on real and arbitrary values. Consequently, the average bit-error rate can now be expressed in terms of Lauricella's multivariate hypergeometric function, which can be easily evaluated numerically. Special cases of the main results reduce to known results in the literature. The results, which apply to independent as well as correlated diversity branches, will be useful for predicting the system performances when the Nakagami fading parameters are real and arbitrary.