On the performance of asymmetric SIM‐based RF/FSO system with MIMO DF relaying

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the asymmetric dual‐hop radio frequency (RF) and free‐space optical (FSO) wireless communication system with a decode‐and‐forward–based multiple‐input–multiple‐output relay over the Nakagami‐m/Generalized‐K( KG) distribution. The KG distribution is a generic statistical model, which has been used for a wide range of atmospheric turbulence–induced fading in FSO communication. The coefficients of the RF hop are considered to be independent and nonidentically distributed with the Nakagami‐m distribution, and the coefficients of FSO hop are considered to be independent and identically distributed. We also consider the path loss and misalignment error effect in FSO hop. We derive the approximate closed‐form expression of the symbol error probability and outage probability in terms of the Meijer G function for the considered mixed decode‐and‐forward RF/FSO system. The closed‐form expressions of the conditional symbol error probability and outage probability are also derived for the considered system while taking into account the effect of a misalignment error. We have also analyzed the considered system for high signal‐to‐noise ratio conditions. In addition, the diversity order of the considered system is also obtained analytically.