Bit error probability for MDPSK and NCFSK over arbitrary Rician fading channels

In this paper, we analyze the bit error probability (BEP) of binary and quaternary differential phase shift keying (2/4 DPSK) and noncoherent frequency shift keying (NCFSK) with postdetection diversity combining in arbitrary Rician fading channels. The model is quite general in that it accommodates fading correlation and noise correlation between different diversity branches as well as between adjacent symbol intervals. We show that the relevant decision statistic can be expressed in a noncentral Gaussian quadratic form, and its moment generating function (MGF) is derived. Using the MGF and the saddle point technique, we give an efficient numerical quadrature scheme to compute the BEP. The most significant contribution of the paper, however, lies in the derivation of a closed-form cumulative distribution function (cdf) for the decision statistic. As a result, a closed-form BEP expression in the form of an infinite series of elementary functions is developed, which is general and unifies previous published BEP results for 2/4 DPSK and NCFSK for multichannel reception in Rician fading. Specialization to some important cases are discussed and, as a byproduct, a new and general finite-series expression for the BEP in arbitrarily correlated Rayleigh fading is obtained. The theory is applied to study 2/4 DPSK and NCFSK performance for independent and correlated Rician fading channels; and some interesting findings are presented.