Sensitivity to fading estimates in maximal ratio combining

The combined effect of imperfect magnitude and phase of fading estimates in maximal ratio combining (MRC) is analysed. Theoretical error rate bounds are derived under small estimate errors. These bounds are tested over Rayleigh and Nakagami-m fading channels with binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation, and verified using computer simulation. Numerical results quantify the sensitivity of MRC to errors in fading estimates. It is numerically demonstrated that for BPSK, MRC is more sensitive to errors in phase estimates than to errors in magnitude estimates.