Path diversity technology based on multiple path selection for a direct sequence spread spectrum communication system

This study evaluates the performance of direct sequence spread spectrum communication systems which use path diversity based on a selection of M multiple paths. A set of n paths to be combined is selected from M candidate paths in the order of instantaneous path S/N. Using a distribution function for this multiple selection path diversity of n=2, the number of effective diversity branches, which is a measure of the advantage introduced by diversity, is determined using rectangular and exponential delay profile models. For n=4, the number of effective diversity branches is obtained by computer simulation. The performance of this diversity system is also evaluated in terms of both FSK and BPSK bit error rates.