A simple and general parameterization quantifying performance in fading channels

We quantify the performance of wireless transmissions over random fading channels at high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The performance criteria we consider are average probability of:error and outage probability. We show that as functions of the average SNR, they can both be characterized by two parameters: the diversity and coding gains. They both exhibit identical diversity orders, but their coding gains in decibels differ by a constant. The diversity and coding gains are found to depend on the behavior of-the random SNR's probability density function only at the origin, or equivalently, on the decaying order of the corresponding moment generating function (i.e., how fast the moment generating function goes…