On the Capacity of FSO Links under Lognormal and Rician-Lognormal Turbulences

A unified capacity analysis under weak and composite turbulences of a free-space optical (FSO) link that accounts for pointing errors and both types of detection techniques (i.e. intensity modulation/direct detection as well as heterodyne detection) is addressed in this work. More specifically, a unified exact closed-form expression for the moments of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a single link FSO transmission system is presented in terms of well-known elementary functions. Capitalizing on these new moments expressions, unified approximate and simple closed- form results are offered for the ergodic capacity at high SNR regime as well as at low SNR regime. All the presented results are verified via computer- based Monte-Carlo simulations.