Error Probability for Coherent Modulations in Rician Fading Channel

Simple closed-form solutions for the average error rate of several coherent modulation schemes including square M-QAM, DBPSK and QPSK operating over slow flat Rician fading channel are derived. Starting from a novel unified expression of conditional error probability the error rates are analysed using PDF based approach. The derived end expressions composed of infinite series summations of Gauss hypergeometric function are accurate, free from any numerical integration and general enough, as it encompasses as special situations, some cases of non-diversity and Rayleigh fading. Error probabilities are graphically displayed for the modulation schemes for different values of the Rician parameter K. In addition, to examine the dependence of error rate performance of M-QAM on the constellation size, numerical results are plotted for various values of M. The generality of the analytical results presented offers valuable insight into the performance evaluation over a fading channel in a unified manner.