Distribution functions of selection combiner output in equally correlated Rayleigh, Rician, and Nakagami-m fading channels

We develop a novel approach to derive the cumulative distribution functions (cdfs) of the selection-combining (SC) output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in equally correlated Rayleigh, Ricean, and Nakagami-m fading channels. We show that a set of equally correlated channel gains can be transformed into a set of conditionally independent channel gains. Single-fold integral expressions are, therefore, derived for the cdfs of the SC output SNR. Infinite series representations of the output cdfs are also provided. New expressions are applied to analyze the average error rate, the outage probability, and the output statistics of SC. Numerical and simulation results that illustrate the effect of fading correlation on the performance of L-branch SC in equally correlated fading channels are provided.