Equivalence between Nakagami channels and Rayleigh channels with diversity

In this paper, the relationship between MRC diversity and Nakagami-m fading is investigated. The error performances of several modulation schemes with diversity over Rayleigh fading and without diversity over Nakagami-m fading is analyzed and compared. The analysis is further extended to diversity over Nakagami-m fading channel. An attempt has been made to find the physical interpretation of Nakagami-m with MRC diversity over Rayleigh fading channel. A novel equivalence is obtained between diversity orders over Rayleigh fading and Nakagami parameter m. The results are also verified by Monte Carlo simulations.