Evaluation of Uplink and Downlink MC-CDMA Receivers in Generalized Fading Channels

In this paper, the average bit error probability of uplink and downlink Multicarrier Code Division Multiple Access (MC-CDMA) system using coherent Maximal-Ratio Combining (MRC) and Equal Gain Combining (EGC) receivers is evaluated for frequency selective Nakagami fading channels. The analysis assumes that different subcarriers experience independent fading channels, but not necessary identically distributed. The analysis is based on Gaussian approximation of the multiple access interference. Generalized bit error probability (BEP) expressions for both uplink and downlink with MRC and EGC receivers were derived. The analytical results are supported with simulation results. The effect of fading parameters, number of users, and number of subcarriers were presented. The BEP performance of the EGC receiver in the uplink is highly influenced by the fading parameter compared with the MRC receiver. The EGC receiver outperforms the MRC receiver in the downlink, but the MRC receiver gives almost the same performance as the EGC in the uplink.