Analysis of circular antenna arrays with MRC in Nakagami fading channels by approximate approaches

Multiple antenna systems are promising architectures for overcoming the effects of multi-path interference and increasing the spectrum efficiency. Spatial correlation among antenna elements, due to limited angular spread or insufficient antenna spacing, significantly reduces the performance of the diversity reception systems. In this paper, we explore the performance for circular antenna arrays with MRC (maximal ratio combining) in Nakagami fading channels by exact and approximate approaches. By including spatial information, we derive spatial correlation functions of circular antenna arrays. Analytical formulas of average bit error ratio (BER) are also derived as a function of covariance matrix of the multi-path signals. The effects of antenna configurations and the wireless environment are illustrated