Useful bounds for the BEP of partially coherent faded PSK signals

Useful upper and lower bounds are presented for the average bit-error probability (BEP) of uncoded partially coherent BPSK and QPSK systems. For the first time, the bounds are derived taking into consideration wireless fading impairment. The bounds are shown to be tight and easy to evaluate for phase error noise parameters likely to be encountered in practice and for SNR that are needed in moderate fading environments. A precise relationship between the lower bounds and the average degradation caused by the carrier phase error are given. Also, the analysis of the upper bound establishes an expression for the irreducible errors due to imperfect phase recovery for a coherent QPSK system. The accuracy of both bounds is illustrated by comparing the bound results to those obtained by more complex exact series analysis.