Performance analysis of optimum combining in wireless communications with Rayleigh fading and cochannel interference

Optimum combining for space diversity reception is studied in digital cellular mobile radio communication systems with Rayleigh fading and multiple cochannel interferers. This paper considers binary phase-shift keying (BPSK) modulation in a flat Rayleigh-fading environment when the number of interferences L is no less than the number of antenna elements N(L/spl ges/N). The approach of this paper and its main contribution is to carry out the analysis in a multivariate framework. Using this approach and with the assumption of equal-power interferers, it is shown that the probability density function of the maximum signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) at the output of the optimum combiner has a Hotelling T/sup 2/ distribution. Closed form expressions using hypergeometric functions are derived for the outage probability and the average probability of bit error. Theoretical results are demonstrated by Monte Carlo simulations.