WLCp2-13: Performance Analysis of M-QAM in Rayleigh Fading with Channel Estimation

A new approach for analyzing the bit error probability (BEP) of square, multilevel, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) over a nonselective Rayleigh fading with imperfect channel estimation employing pilot-symbol-assisted-modulation is presented. The analytical approach here is much simpler and more powerful than that in the existing literature. The average BEP is obtained by calculating the BEP for each individual bit. The results derived are given in simple, closed-form expressions which show the behavior of the BEP as an explicit function of various system parameters, without requiring any numerical integration.