Error Probability of alpha-µ Fading Channels with Imperfect Carrier Phase Recovery

In this paper, the error performance of binary and quaternary phase-shift keying signals with imperfect carrier phase recovery is investigated assuming a flat slow î±-î fading channel and the presence of thermal noise. The phase noise is considered to be Tikhonov and Gaussian distributed. More specifically, an analytical expression for the exact average bit error rate is obtained, as well as its corresponding asymptotic expression for large signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) values. The derived expressions are valid for arbitrary values of the fading parameters, namely î± and î, and they are validated through Monte Carlo simulations. Several important conclusions concerning the system performance as a function of the channel parameters, namely, non-linearity, clustering, and loop SNR, are drawn.