A Unified MGF-Based Capacity Analysis of Diversity Combiners over Generalized Fading Channels

Abstract

Unified exact ergodic capacity results for L-branch coherent diversity combiners including equal-gain combining (EGC) and maximal-ratio combining (MRC) are not known. This paper develops a novel generic framework for the capacity analysis of L-branch EGC/MRC over generalized fading channels. The framework is used to derive new results for the gamma-shadowed generalized Nakagami-m fading model which can be a suitable model for the fading environments encountered by high frequency (60 GHz and above) communications. The mathematical formalism is illustrated with some selected numerical and simulation results confirming the correctness of our newly proposed framework.