On error probabilities of DS-CDMA systems with arbitrary chip waveforms

The error probabilities of asynchronous DS-CDMA systems using random signature sequences depend on the number of users, the processing gain and the chip waveforms employed. The exact calculation of the error probabilities is computationally difficult and therefore approximations and bounds are more commonly used. In this article, the improved Gaussian approximation proposed by Holtzman (1992) is extended to include arbitrary chip waveforms. Comparisons to the exact calculation and the standard Gaussian approximation are also made to evaluate the accuracy of the improved Gaussian approximation.