Performance of Orthogonal Space-Time Block Codes With Generalized Complex Orthogonal Design for Arbitrary Rectangular QAM Over Correlative Fading Channels

We derive the symbol error probability (SEP) expressions for orthogonal space-time block codes with any form of generalized complex orthogonal design (GCOD) employing arbitrary rectangular quadratic-amplitude modulation signaling over correlative fading channels. By first decorrelating the physical branches into uncorrelated virtual branches, a general expression for the moment generating function of the received signal-to noise ratio (SNR) is obtained, from which the SEP is derived. The result can be applied to correlative fading channels with any form of Gaussian fading gains. Moreover, channels having joint fading models, as well as mixed channel powers, are considered. We also discover that, for certain GCOD codes, different information symbols may exhibit different SEPs. The above features are demonstrated by two GCOD examples used for simulations. Theoretical performance curves are compared with Monte Carlo simulated results in excellent agreement.