Plurality-Count Diversity Combining for Fading M-ary Transmissions

The performance of a plurality-count diversity combiner for fading -ary transmissions is analyzed, and calculated error probabilities are presented graphically for alphabet sizes of 2, 8, and 32. The performance is shown to be within 3 dB of that of an optimum square-law combiner for moderate alphabet sizes when there is no restriction on the allowable number of diversity branches. It is shown that a worthwhile saving in transmitted power can be effected by using nonbinary alphabets with plurality-count combining for the transmission of binary data. The availability of extra information from the combiner for use with error-correction is discussed.