New closed-form bounds on the performance of coding in correlated Rayleigh fading

New, simple bounds are presented for the probability of error in a binary hypothesis test for communications using diversity signaling in correlated Rayleigh fading. The bounds are developed in the context of pairwise error-event probabilities in decoding an error-correction code. A long-standing conjecture regarding the form of worst-case error events in exponentially correlated Rayleigh fading is also proven. The utility of the results is illustrated by their application to transfer-function bounds on the probability of bit error for a system using a convolutional code. The closed-form transfer-function bounds are shown to be tighter than previously developed transfer-function bounds for communications in exponentially correlated Rayleigh fading.