A Low-Complexity Semi-Analytical Approximation to the Block Error Rate in Nakagami-m Block Fading Channels

• There are few analytical formulas that can be usedfor calculating the block error rate (BLER) in block fadingchannels. Thus, an estimate of the BLER is often obtained usingnumerical methods. One such method is the threshold methodwhich assigns 0 or 1 to the instantaneous BLER given the signalto noise ratio (SNR) level. It has been shown that utilizing sucha method results in an accurate approximation of the BLER inNakagami-m block fading channels for a wide range of m.In this work, we consider a recently proposed simple method ofobtaining the threshold and study the effect of adopting differentphysical layer and channel parameters on that threshold. Weshow that, while the value of this threshold depends on themodulation, coding, and block size, it is almost unaffected bythe m parameter of Nakagami-m channels for a wide range ofpractical values. In addition, for a given modulation and codingmethod, the threshold is shown to be a simple function of blocksize. As a result, the computational complexity required to obtainthe threshold can be significantly reduced.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Telekommunikation (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Telecommunications (hsv//eng)

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