A Tight Approximation Towards the SEP Computation Over Nakagami-m Fading Channels

In emerging pragmatic wireless communication environments, the evaluation of several performance measures requires computation of the Gaussian Q-function. Specifically, the analytical solution of symbol error probability (SEP) integrals over fading channels requires precise approximation of various functions, viz., erf(.), erfc(.) and Q(.). In this setting, the paper portrays composite and tighter exponential bounds towards the Gaussian Q-function for effective evaluation of average SEP over fading channels. The composite framework operates well for lower and higher input values of signal-to-noise ratio and is mathematically simpler in contrast to the existing approximations of the Gaussian Q-function. Furthermore, in context with Nakagami-m fading channels for different values of fading parameter, the analytical solution corresponding to SEP integrals for general non-rectangular quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) and rectangular QAM (R-QAM) are provided.