Exact performance analysis of M-ary QAM with MRC diversity in Rician fading channels

The exact expression of symbol error rate (SER) is derived for coherent square M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (MQAM) using Lth order maximal-ratio combining (MRC) diversity in Rician fading channels with an arbitrary fading parameter. The accuracy of the SER estimates evaluated by this expression is verified through comparison with the results evaluated by numerical integration.