On the performance of mixed RF/FSO variable gain dual-hop transmission systems with pointing errors

In this work, the performance analysis of a dualhop relay transmission system composed of asymmetric radiofrequency (RF) and unified free-space optical (FSO) links subject to pointing errors is presented. These unified FSO links account for both types of detection techniques (i.e. indirect modulation/ direct detection (IM/DD) as well as heterodyne detection). More specifically, we derive new exact closed-form expressions for the cumulative distribution function, probability density function, moment generating function, and moments of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio of these systems in terms of the Meijer's G function. We then capitalize on these results to offer new exact closed-form expressions for the outage probability, higherorder amount of fading, average error rate for binary and Mary modulation schemes, and ergodic capacity, all in terms of Meijer's G functions. All our new analytical results are verified via computer-based Monte-Carlo simulations.