An efficient approximation to the correlated Nakagami-m sums and its application in equal gain diversity receivers

There are several cases in wireless communications theory where the statistics of the sum of independent or correlated Nakagami-m random variables (RVs) is necessary to be known. However, a closed-form solution to the distribution of this sum does not exist when the number of constituent RVs exceeds two, even for the special case of Rayleigh fading. In this paper, we present an efficient closed-form approximation for the distribution of the sum of arbitrary correlated Nakagami-m envelopes with identical and integer fading parameters. The distribution becomes exact for maximal correlation, while the tightness of the proposed approximation is validated statistically by using the Chi-square and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit tests. As an application, the approximation is used to study the performance of equal-gain combining (EGC) systems operating over arbitrary correlated Nakagami-m fading channels, by utilizing the available analytical results for the error-rate performance of an equivalent maximal-ratio combining (MRC) system

Level Crossing Rate and Average Fade Duration of the Multihop Rayleigh Fading Channel

We present a novel analytical framework for the evaluation of important second order statistical parameters, as the level crossing rate (LCR) and the average fade duration (AFD) of the amplify-and-forward multihop Rayleigh fading channel. More specifically, motivated by the fact that this channel is a cascaded one, which can be modelled as the product of N fading amplitudes, we derive novel analytical expressions for the average LCR and AFD of the product of N Rayleigh fading envelopes, or of the recently so-called N*Rayleigh channel. Furthermore, we derive simple and efficient closed-form approximations to the aforementioned parameters, using the multivariate Laplace approximation theorem. It is shown that our general results reduce to the specific dual-hop case, previously published. Numerical and computer simulation examples verify the accuracy of the presented mathematical analysis and show the tightness of the proposed approximations

An Accurate Approximation to the Distribution of the Sum of Equally Correlated Nakagami-m Envelopes and its Application in Equal Gain Diversity Receivers

We present a novel and accurate approximation for the distribution of the sum of equally correlated Nakagami-m variates. Ascertaining on this result we study the performance of Equal Gain Combining (EGC) receivers, operating over equally correlating fading channels. Numerical results and simulations show the accuracy of the proposed approximation and the validity of the mathematical analysis

On the Second Order Statistics of the Multihop Rayleigh Fading Channel

Second order statistics provides a dynamic representation of a fading channel and plays an important role in the evaluation and design of the wireless communication systems. In this paper, we present a novel analytical framework for the evaluation of important second order statistical parameters, as the level crossing rate (LCR) and the average fade duration (AFD) of the amplify-and-forward multihop Rayleigh fading channel. More specifically, motivated by the fact that this channel is a cascaded one and can be modeled as the product of N fading amplitudes, we derive novel analytical expressions for the average LCR and the AFD of the product of N Rayleigh fading envelopes (or of the recently so-called N*Rayleigh channel). Furthermore, we derive simple and efficient closed-form approximations to the aforementioned parameters, using the multivariate Laplace approximation theorem. It is shown that our general results reduce to the corresponding ones of the specific dual-hop case, previously published. Numerical and computer simulation examples verify the accuracy of the presented mathematical analysis and show the tightness of the proposed approximations

A Novel Network NOMA Scheme for Downlink Coordinated Three-Point Systems

In this paper, we propose a network non-orthogonal multiple access (N-NOMA) technique for the downlink coordinated multipoint (CoMP) communication scenario of a cellular network, with randomly deployed users. In the considered N-NOMA scheme, superposition coding (SC) is employed to serve cell-edge users as well as users close to base stations (BSs) simultaneously, and distributed analog beamforming by the BSs to meet the cell-edge user's quality of service (QoS) requirements. The combination of SC and distributed analog beamforming significantly complicates the expressions for the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the reveiver, which makes the performance analysis particularly challenging. However, by using rational approximations, insightful analytical results are obtained in order to characterize the outage performance of the considered N-NOMA scheme. Computer simulation results are provided to show the superior performance of the proposed scheme as well as to demonstrate the accuracy of the analytical results