Exact Closed-Form Solutions for the BEP of Decode-and-Forward Cooperative Systems in Nakagami-m Fading Channels

The exact average bit error probability (BEP) performance of decode-and-forward (DF) cooperative systems for binary phase shift keying (BPSK) signals in Nakagami-m fading channels for integer values of m is analyzed. Two types of receivers, a λ-maximal ratio combining (λ-MRC) receiver and a piecewise linear (PL) receiver are examined. Closed-form, integral-free, expressions for the BEPs of the λ-MRC receiver and the PL receiver are obtained.