AbstractIn this paper, the performance of frequencyhopping spread-spectrum (FHSS) systems employing noncoherent reception is analyzed for frequency-selective Rayleigh fading channels. Two different types of diversity transmission techniques, a fast frequency-hopping (FFH) system and a multicarrier frequency-hopping (MCFH) system are investigated. In order to combine diversity receptions, the optimum combining scheme is developed. The probability of error equations are derived, and utilized to evaluate the performance of the two systems. MCFH systems are found to outperform FFH systems when the channel delay spread is severe, while FFH systems are superior to MCFH systems when a channel varies rapidly. Furthermore, it is found that performance enhancement due to an increase of diversity order is more significant for MCFH systems than for FFH systems in frequency-selective fading channels. The effect of frequency-selective fading is also investigated in determining optimum frequency deviations of BFSK signals.