Analysis of switch diversity combining over two wave with diffuse power fading

The two wave with diffused power (TWDP) fading model is a very useful fading model characterised by two specular waves in the presence of other diffused waves and is applicable to both the Rayleigh and Rician fading channels as special cases. The performance of switch diversity with binary modulation schemes over the TWDP fading channel is examined. The four types of switch diversity investigated in this study comprise of the switch-and-stay combining, switch-and-examine combining, switch-and-examine combining with post-selection and scan-and-wait combining. The expressions of the average output signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver and bit-error rate (BER) are derived and presented. The pre-determined SNR thresholds of the switch diversity over the TWDP fading channel are optimised to obtain the minimum BER. Analytical results are validated by simulation.