Asymptotic bit-error rate analysis of quadrature amplitude modulation and phaseshift keying with OFDM RoFSO over M turbulence in the presence of pointing errors

Abstract

In case where installation of optical fibre is not practically reliable, the new generation wireless communication popularised as free-space optics (FSO) systems can be used to transmit radio-frequency (RF) signals. FSO technology can efficiently transfer multiple RF signals, and this new technique is commonly referred as radio-on-FSO (RoFSO). The major challenges in this technology are atmospheric turbulence and pointing errors. In this study, the authors analysed the performance of RoFSO links employing the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme under both modulation formats namely quadrature amplitude modulation and phase shift keying in the newly developed Málaga or M distribution turbulent channel model. The performance is evaluated with consideration of both scintillation and pointing errors in M distribution channel for higher values of the carrier-to-noise plus distortion ratio. M distribution channel serves as an effective generalised model which unifies all other available statistical channel models. The novel expressions of average bit-error rate has been derived and performance comparison has been done between the two modulation formats. This study identifies the crucial parameters that deteriorate the efficiency of the OFDM signal over FSO link which can be helpful in designing an optimal system. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2018.