Statistical properties of the capacity of Rice channels with MRC and EGC

In this paper, we have studied the statistical properties of the capacity of Rice channels for both maximal ratio combining (MRC) and equal gain combining (EGC) schemes. We have analyzed the effect of the number of diversity branches and the amplitude of the line-of-sight (LOS) components in the diversity branches on the statistics of the channel capacity. Specifically, we have derived analytical expressions for the probability density function (PDF), cumulative distribution function (CDF), level-crossing rate (LCR), and average duration of fades (ADF) of the capacity of Rice channels when using MRC and EGC. It is observed that if the number of diversity branches or the amplitude of the LOS components increases, then the mean channel capacity increases, while the spread and the ADF of the channel capacity decreases. The presented results are very helpful for wireless communication system designers to optimize the receiver design for the case when spatial diversity combining is employed.