Capacity analysis of dual amplify-and-forward relayed free-space optical communication systems over turbulence channels with pointing errors

This paper elaborates on the end-to-end capacity of dual-hop free-space optical (FSO) communication systems employing amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying, assuming channel state information is only known at the receiving terminals. The relay is assumed to either possess perfect channel state information or have a fixed gain. The performance of the considered system is affected by the combined effects of atmospheric turbulence-induced fading, pointing errors (i.e., misalignment fading), and path loss. Atmospheric turbulence conditions are modeled using the gamma-gamma distribution. For the system under consideration, accurate analytical approximations as well as upper bounds to the ergodic capacity are derived. In addition, bound approximations in the high signal-to-noise ratio regime are deduced that provide valuable insights into the impact of model parameters on the capacity of AF FSO dual-hop relaying systems. Numerically evaluated and computer simulation results are further provided to demonstrate the validity of the proposed mathematical analysis.