Second-order statistics of maximal-ratio and equal-gain combining in Hoyt fading

Exact expressions for the level crossing rate and average fade duration of M-branch equal-gain and maximal-ratio combining systems in a Hoyt fading environment are presented. The expressions apply to unbalanced, nonidentical, independent diversity channels and have been validated by specializing the general results to some particular cases whose solutions are known and, more generally, by means of simulation.