On Multihop Weibull-Fading Communications: Performance Analysis Framework and Applications

Abstract: The paper presents a comprehensive closed-form performance analysis framework for multihop communications over Weibull fading channels. The analyzed scheme consists basically of multiple regenerative relays with generalized high-order quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) transmissions. To take into consideration the channel fading in the mmWave range, we adopt the advocated Weibull model for its flexible ability to cover different channel conditions. The end-to-end performance is evaluated in terms of outage probability, bit error probability (BER), symbol error probability (SER), block error rate (BLER), ergodic capacity, and energy efficiency (EE). For all the metrics, we present exact closed-form expressions along with their asymptotic behavior, some in terms of generalized hypergeometric functions. Based on the obtained analytical results, we also present a practical application, we derive two BER- and EE-optimal transmit power allocation strategies, and we discuss the resulting performance gains. The exactness of our analysis is illustrated by numerical examples, and assessed via Monte-Carlo simulations for different system and channel parameters. Finally, as a secondary contribution, noting the increasing popularity of Fox's H and bivariate H functions, we provide new and generalized codes for computing these functions which are of practical utility in different contexts.