Matched filter performance bounds for diversity combining receivers in digital mobile radio

A best-case bound on bit-error-rate (BER) performance of a space diversity receiver operating in a digital mobile radio environment with frequency-selective multipath fading is derived. The modulation is assumed to be either multilevel amplitude shift keying (ASK) or multilevel quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). The receiver is assumed to have a matched filter in each space diversity branch and to perform (somehow) ideal cancellation of intersymbol interference at the combiner output. The analysis treats the optimum diversity combining and detection of an isolated data pulse, the performance results for which constitute the matched filter bound