Reception Through Nakagami Fading Multipath Channels with Random Delays

The Nakagami fading distribution is shown to fit empirical results more generally than other distributions. A statistical model for a noisy, Nakagami fading multipath channel is given, following Turin's delay-line model. Optimal receivers are derived for two states of knowledge of the channel-known path delays and random path delays. Upper bounds on the probability of error are computed, for binary, equal-energy, equiprobable signals, which are uniformly orthogonal and have equal, triangular, autocorrelation moduli. Results are graphically displayed and show the dependence of error probability on number of paths, amount of fading and spread of path delays.