Maximum likelihood estimator for the α-κ-μ fading environment

In this Paper, an estimator of the α-κ-μ distribution, based on the maximum likelihood (ML) estimation method, is proposed and verified. The technique is applied in samples generated by the Smith spectrum method, which is also a contribution in this paper. This distribution has been recently proposed to model the received field strength in a nonlinear environment with line-of-sight condition. Hence, efficient estimators are required to infer the parameters of the received signal amplitude distribution in propagation mediums modeled by it. The ML estimator for the α-κ-μ distribution is derived and verified against chosen true values of the parameters by means of a simulation. We verify that, for a large sample size, the estimators are unbiased, from a practical point of view, for the useful range of α, κ and μ. The results conclude that the estimator variations about its sample mean are smaller for the α parameter.