Performance Analysis of Transmit Antenna Selection With MRC Over Correlated Fast-Fading Channels

In this paper, we investigate the exact error performance of transmit antenna selection combined with receive maximal-ratio combining (MRC) in correlated fast-fading channels. A single transmit antenna that maximizes the instantaneous received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is selected among all available transmit antennas. The exact bit error rate (BER) is derived in a concise closed-form for binary phase-shift-keying (BPSK). It is observed that the diversity order with transmit antenna selection deteriorates and only the MRC receive diversity remains in correlated fast fading channels. This is unlike the case for slow fading in which the full diversity order with antenna selection is always maintained.