Analytic symbol error rate evaluation of M-PSK based regenerative cooperative networks over generalized fading channels

This paper is devoted to the analytic investigation of a maximum-ratio-combining based regenerative multi-relay cooperative wireless network over non-homogeneous scattering environments. Such propagation conditions are rather realistic as they are encountered often in practical wireless transmission scenarios. Novel analytic expressions are derived for the symbol-error-rate of M-ary phase shift keying (M-PSK) over independently and non-identically distributed fading channels. The derived expressions are based on the moment-generating-function (MGF) approach and are given in closed-form in terms of the generalized Lauricella series. A simple algorithm for computing this special function is also proposed while the offered results are validated extensively through comparisons with respective results from computer simulations. Based on this, they are particularly useful in the analytic performance evaluation of such cooperative systems. To this end, it is shown that the performance of the cooperative system is significantly affected, as expected, by the number of employed relays as well as by the value of the involved fading parameters η and μ.