Performance of 2-D RAKE receiver in a correlated frequency-selective Nakagami-fading

The bit error rate (BER) performance and the characteristics of a two-dimensional (2-D) RAKE receiver operating in a correlated frequency-selective Nakagami-fading environment are analyzed. Correlated fading between array elements whose fading statistics are identical across the same RAKE branch, as well as an arbitrary number of RAKE-branches with arbitrary finding statistics, are assumed. We derived an approximated signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) statistics for one RAKE branch with correlated multiple antennas, which is extended to that for multiple RAKE branches with arbitrary fading statistics, i.e., a 2-D RAKE receiver. The receiver's performance and characteristics are analyzed using the cumulative distribution function of the SNR at the 2-D RAKE receiver output and the BER under various conditions, Numerical results show that the improvement In performance of the 2-D RAKE receiver is brought about by the average SNR and diversity gains, which are identified by two parameters specifying the gamma distribution of SNR.