New Closed-Form ASER Expressions for Dual-Hop Mixed THz-RF Cooperative Relay Networks

In this paper, we consider a dual-hop mixed THz-RF system model for backhaul-fronthaul applications where the link between source and destination is established only through the relay node in which decode-and-forward relaying protocol is used. The THz link suffers from the joint impact of antenna misalignment and stochastic characteristics of wireless channels, including the effect of environmental conditions such as pressure, humidity, and temperature. The envelope of THz link in the first hop follows a generalized $\alpha-\mu$ distribution, and for the RF end, the Nakagami-$m$ distribution is considered. In this context, we obtain new closed-form expressions of the cumulative density function and the moment-generating function of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio. Further, we derive the average symbol error rate expressions for coherent rectangular quadrature amplitude modulation (RQAM) and coherent hexagonal QAM (HQAM), as well as the non-coherent modulation scheme. The asymptotic behavior is also discussed to examine the system's diversity. Furthermore, the impact of several parameters, such as fading coefficients of individual links and antenna misalignment, as well as the distance between nodes, are also highlighted in the system's performance. Moreover, Monte Carlo simulations are used to validate the presented analytical framework. Finally, the presented numerical insights aid in the extraction of practical design principles.