Optimal reliable relay selection in multiuser cooperative relaying networks

In this paper, we investigate the problem of optimal reliable relay selection in multiuser cooperative wireless networks in the presence of malicious relay nodes. A general discrete time queueing model for such networks is introduced which takes into account the dynamic variations of the channel state, the dynamic malicious behaviour of relay nodes as well as stochastic arrival of data packets into the system. The model consists of a set of mobile users, one destination node and a set of relay nodes which may be either mobile or fixed. The system uses the benefit of cooperative diversity by relaying in the decode and forward mode. We assume that each user either transmits its packets directly to the destination (direct mode) or transmits them with the cooperation of a selected relay node (cooperative mode). It is assumed that a centralized network controller manages the relay selection process in the system. At each time slot, a malicious relay node in the system may behave spitefully and refuse to cooperate with a user deliberately when it is selected to cooperate with that user. A malicious relay node usually acts stochastically to hide its malicious behaviour for longer time. In such a system, at each time slot the network controller should decide whether a user has to cooperate with any relay node or not and if so, which relay node must be selected for cooperation. First, we show that the malicious behaviour of relay nodes makes the stable throughput region shrink. Then, we propose a throughput optimal secure relay selection policy that can stabilize the system for all the arrival rate vectors strictly inside the network stability region. We show that the optimal policy is equivalent to finding the maximum weighted matching in a weighted bipartite graph at each time slot. Finally, we use simulations to compare the performance of the proposed policy with that of four other sub-optimal policies in terms of average queue occupancy (or queueing delay).     

Secure AF relaying with efficient partial relay selection scheme

This paper evaluates the secrecy performance for the amplify‐and‐forward (AF) protocol with partial relay selection (PRS) schemes in the scenario of multiple independent but not necessarily identically distributed eavesdroppers. The secrecy performances of the first‐hop and second‐hop PRS schemes are revisited. Given the secrecy data rate, an efficient PRS scheme is presented, which selects the relay based on the instantaneous channel state information (CSI) of either the first or second hop according to the statistical CSI of two hops. The proposed PRS scheme provides the trade‐off between the two‐hop and one‐hop PRS criteria. Results show that the secrecy outage probability (SOP) performance of the proposed scheme is close to that of the conventional opportunistic relaying in the medium main‐to‐eavesdropper ratio (MER) regions. As for the intercept probability, the second‐hop scheme achieves the highest diversity order among PRS schemes and its performance depends on the overall eavesdroppers' behavior not on individual effects of the specific relay. The proposed criterion also outperforms the first‐hop PRS scheme. Simulation results finally substantiate the accuracy of the theoretical analysis.     

Power allocation and relay selection for AF two‐path successive relaying networks

Two‐path or successive relaying, which aims to establish two relay links transmitting different information symbols in adjacent time slots, has recently emerged as an attractive wireless communication protocol to improve the spectral efficiency in half‐duplex cooperative systems. In this paper, we investigate power allocation and relay selection techniques for amplify‐and‐forward two‐path successive relaying networks. Our approach is based on the maximization of the received SNR subject to a total power budget consumed by the source and the relay assisting this specific transmission. Two scenarios including with and without direct link are considered here. We show that the main problem has a closed‐form solution and only requires a few amounts of feedback bits to be broadcasted. Numerical results reveal that the proposed approaches are more insensitive to the inter‐relay interference and robust to channel estimation errors; meanwhile, they perform better than the existing schemes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive multi-node incremental relaying for hybrid-ARQ in AF relay networks

This paper proposes an adaptive multi-node incremental relaying technique in cooperative communications with amplify-and-forward (AF) relays. In order to reduce the excessive burden of MRC with all diversity paths at the destination node, the destination node decides if it combines signals over the first Ν(< Κ) time slots/frames or over all of the Κ times slots, where Κis the number of relay nodes. Our analytical and simulation results show that the proposed adaptive multi-node incremental relaying outperforms the conventional MRC in terms of outage probability in AF based cooperative communications since the proposed scheme effectively reduces the spectral efficiency loss. Our asymptotic analysis also shows that the proposed adaptive multi-node incremental relaying achieves full diversity order Κ+ 1.     

Distributed BLAST with relay selection for multi‐antenna AF relaying

By examining the diversity–multiplexing tradeoff (DMT) of an amplify‐and‐forward (AF) multi‐antenna multi‐relay network, a procedure to select the optimal number of relays and relay candidates is established. Subsequently, a distributed BLAST transmission scheme in conjunction with successive nulling and cancellation at destination is proposed to achieve the optimal DMT. Illustrative results indicate that the proposed method can significantly enhance the outage probability performance, and for a selected number of relays in use, the performance enhancement can be further improved by increasing the number of available relays in the AF network. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance analysis of space shift keying for AF relaying with relay selection

In this paper, we propose an amplify-and-forward multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relaying scheme, which combines space shift keying (SSK) with the best and partial relay selection. In this scheme, SSK transmission is considered by using the source (S) transmit antennas. Besides the direct link transmission, a relay, which is selected according to the best or partial relay selection techniques, amplifies the data received from S and forwards it to the destination (D). Theoretical error probability expressions of the proposed cooperative SSK systems are derived and an asymptotic diversity analysis is also performed to demonstrate the achievable diversity orders of the systems. It is shown that the proposed SSK systems outperform the conventional cooperative single-input multiple-output (SIMO) systems. It is also revealed that there is an interesting trade-off between SSK with the best and the partial relay selection in terms of error performance and complexity as in conventional cooperative SIMO systems. However, it is shown that the partial relay selection provides an almost identical error performance compared to the best relay selection with a considerably lower complexity when the number of relays is less than or equal to the number of receive antennas at D in the cooperative SSK system.     

Alternate energy harvesting and information relaying in cooperative AF networks

This paper studies an energy harvesting (EH) based cooperative relaying system, where two half-duplex relays operate with EH and alternately amplify and forward source data to the destination. When one relay joins in the cooperative data transmission, the other relay will harvest wireless energy by overhearing the transmissions from both the source and the transmitting relay. Both the time-switching and power-splitting architectures are considered for the EH and data reception at relays. Since the EH can be implicitly performed by each relay through listening the ongoing transmissions, more energy can be harvested for the cooperative data transmission. The outage probability and throughput of the proposed scheme are derived. Simulation results are provided to verify the correctness of our theoretical analysis and show that our scheme can significantly outperform the single-relay system in terms of throughput.     

On relay selection for decode-and-forward relaying

In this letter, we consider a multi-relay network operating in decode-and-forward mode. We propose a novel relay selection method with a low implementation complexity. Unlike the competing schemes, it requires neither error detection methods at relay nodes nor feedback information at the source. We derive a closed-form symbol error rate (SER) expression for multi-relay network under consideration and demonstrate that the proposed selection method is able to extract the full diversity. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations are also presented to confirm the derived SER expressions and to compare the performance of the proposed scheme with its competitors.     

On optimum selection relaying protocols in cooperative wireless networks

In this letter, the outage probabilities of selection relaying protocols are analyzed and compared for cooperative wireless networks. It is assumed that both source and relay use equal allocated time in transmission. Depending on the quality of the source-relay channel, the relay may choose either Decode-and-Forward (DF), Amplify-and-Forward (AF), or Direct-Transmission (DT) to forward signals. It turns out that in terms of outage probability, two selection relaying schemes are better than others: selecting between DF and AF protocols (DF-AF) or selecting between DF and DT protocols (DF-DT). It is shown that with an equal power allocation, both of the DF-AF and DF-DT selection relaying protocols have the same asymptotic outage probability. However, with an optimum power allocation strategy, the DF-AF selection scheme is in general better than the DF-DT selection scheme. Note that the optimum power allocations depend on channel variances, not on instantaneous channel gains. When the quality of the relay-destination link is much better than that of the source-relay link, observed from simulation, the outage probability of the DF-AF selection protocol with its optimum power allocation is 1.5dB better than that of the DF-DT selection with its own optimum power allocation. Extensive simulations are presented to validate the analytical results.     

On the relay selection for cooperative wireless networks with physical-layer network coding

In this paper, we investigate a large cooperative wireless network with relay nodes, in which cooperation is enabled through physical-layer network coding (PLNC). Specifically, we study the impact of the relay selection on the network capacity with power constraints in two scenarios. First, we consider the basic PLNC model (a.k.a., the ARB model), in which one pair of source nodes (A,?B) exchange messages via a selected relay node (R). Given the power constraint, we derive the optimal relay selection and power allocation that maximize the sum capacity, defined as the summation of the capacity for two source-destination channels. Based on results obtained above, we then consider a more general scenario with multiple pairs of source nodes. Assuming the constant power constraint, we derive the upper bound of the minimal sum capacity of any source pair. The optimal power allocation among multiple source pairs is also derived. To validate these theoretical results, we also provide two relay selection strategies: a modified optimal relay assignment strategy and a novel middle point strategy for maximizing the minimal sum capacity of any source pair.     

Energy-efficient relay selection and optimal relay location in cooperative cellular networks with asymmetric traffic

Energy-efficient communication is an important requirement for mobile relay networks due to the limited battery power of user terminals. This paper considers energy-efficient relaying schemes through selection of mobile relays in cooperative cellular systems with asymmetric traffic. The total energy consumption per information bit of the battery-powered terminals, i. e. , the mobile station(MS)and the relay, is derived in theory. In the joint uplink and downlink relay selection(JUDRS)scheme we proposed, the relay which minimizes the total energy consumption is selected. Additionally, the energy-efficient cooperation regions are investigated, and the optimal relay location is found for cooperative cellular systems with asymmetric traffic. The results reveal that the MS-relay and the relay-base station(BS)channels have different influence over relay selection decisions for optimal energy-efficiency. Information theoretic analysis of the diversity-multiplexing tradeoff(DMT)demonstrates that the proposed scheme achieves full spatial diversity in the quantity of cooperating terminals in this network. Finally, numerical results further confirm a significant energy efficiency gain of the proposed algorithm comparing to the previous best worse channel selection and best harmonic mean selection algorithms.     

On the performance of cooperative cognitive networks with proactive relay selection

This paper provides a general outage analysis framework for cooperative cognitive networks with proactive relay selection over non-identical Rayleigh fading channels and under both maximum transmit power and interference power constraints. We firstly propose an exact closed-form outage probability expression, which is then exploited for determining the diversity order and coding gain for proactive relay selection scenarios as well as deriving system performance limits at either large maximum transmit power or large maximum interference power. The derived performance metrics bring several insights into system performance behavior without the need of time-consuming Monte-Carlo simulations. Various results confirm the validity of the proposed derivations and show that cooperative cognitive networks with proactive relay selection incur performance saturation and their performance depends considerably on the number of involved relays. In addition, cooperative cognitive networks are significantly better than dual-hop counterparts without any cost of system resources.     

Performance analysis of cooperative spatial multiplexing networks with AF/DF relaying and linear receiver over Rayleigh fading channels

Cooperative spatial multiplexing (CSM) system has played an important role in wireless networks by offering a substantial improvement in multiplexing gain compared with its cooperative diversity counterpart. However, there is a limited number of research works that consider the performance of CSM systems. As such, in this paper, we have derived exact performance of CSM with amplify‐and‐forward and decode‐and‐forward relays in terms of outage capacity and ergodic capacity. We have shown that CSM systems yield a unity diversity order regardless of the number of antennas at the destination and the number of relays in the networks, which is the direct result of diversity and multiplexing gain trade‐off. Our analytical expressions are corroborated by Monte‐Carlo simulations. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Secrecy performance analysis of AF relaying with relay selection scheme over Nakagami‐m fading channels

This paper investigates the secrecy outage probability (SOP) and intercept behavior for the amplify‐and‐forward network over Nakagami‐m fading channels. Relay selection schemes are evaluated. The optimal and suboptimal criterions require the instantaneous and statistical channel state information of the eavesdroppers' channels, respectively. The enhanced 2‐hop criterion needs the additional information of the target secrecy rate for relay selection. Theoretical analysis reveals that the diversity order of the SOP is dominated by the minimum fading figures of the source‐relay and relay‐destination channels, while that of the intercept probability depends on the fading figure of the relay‐destination channel. In the multirelay scenario, the optimal, suboptimal, and enhanced 2‐hop scheme achieve the same diversity orders of the SOP. For the intercept probability, the optimal and second‐hop relay selection schemes provide the same diversity order, while the diversity orders of the suboptimal and enhanced 2‐hop schemes are the same. Simulation results finally substantiate the accuracy of the theoretical analysis.     

A distributed method for relay selection in cooperative cognitive radio networks

We analyze the performance of a fully decentralized relay-selection method for the relay-assisted Cognitive Radio (CR) systems. The method requires no explicit communication among relay, assumes no prior knowledge of geometry. In particular, we assume that the frequencies chosen by the relay-assisted CR network overlapped with an active primary link. The proposed relay-selection scheme decreases the outage probability by considering both the channel scenario and the interference to the primary link compared with the non-cooperative transmission. Benefits of cooperative diversity are increased with the increased number of relays.     

Achievable sum‐rate maximization using relay/antenna selection for MIMO two‐way AF relaying with channel uncertainties

This paper focuses on the layered relay‐and‐antenna selection (LRAS) for achievable sum‐rate (ASR) maximization while considering the impacts of residual self‐interference due to channel estimation errors in multiple‐input multiple‐output two‐way amplify‐and‐forward relaying systems. Two LRAS algorithms, namely, the Gram–Schmidt and the adaptive discrete stochastic approximation selection techniques, are investigated based on the ASR maximization under an equal power allocation. To alleviate the complexity burden of the LRAS strategies, the optimal relay and the subset of transmit‐and‐receive antenna pairs are determined by a two‐stage selection mechanism. By taking two LRAS strategies and correlated channel uncertainties into account, the development of a two‐way multiple‐input multiple‐output multi‐amplify‐and‐forward‐relay system is able to provide improved robustness against the channel state information mismatch and the residual self‐interference. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cooperative spectrum sensing using amplify-and-forward relaying with partial relay selection in cognitive radio networks

Cooperative spectrum sensing has been shown to be an effective approach to improve the detection performance by exploiting the spatial diversity among multiple cognitive nodes. By using the amplify-and-forward relaying with partial relay selection, this paper proposes a novel cooperative spectrum sensing scheme, which provides higher detection performance and is interesting in distributed cognitive radio networks. In the proposed sensing scheme, the “best” cognitive relay by means of partial relay selection technique amplifies and forwards the signals transmitted from the primary user (PU) to the cognitive user (CU). Then the CU detects PU’s states (i.e., presence or absence) via an energy detector. Moreover, the average missed-detection probability of proposed sensing scheme is studied over Nakagami-m fading channels, where m is a positive integer. In particular, the tight closed-form lower bounds of the average missed-detection probability are presented for the convenience of performance evaluation in practice. Finally, numerical results are provided to validate the derived closed-form lower bounds and the influence of the number of cognitive relays on the detection performance is also discussed.     

Power allocation for asymmetric two-way fixed-gain AF relaying networks

Telecommunication Systems - In this paper, we investigate transmit power optimization in a network based on asymmetric two-way semi-blind amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying and opportunistic relay...     

High throughput relay policy in wireless cooperative relaying networks based on stochastic control theory

This paper proposes a distributed relay and modulation and coding scheme (MCS) selection in wireless cooperative relaying networks where the adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) scheme is applied. First-order finite-state Markov channels (FSMCs) are used to model the wireless channels and make prediction. The objective of the relay policy is to select one relay and MCS among different alternatives in each time-slot according to their channel state information (CSI) with the goal of maximizing the throughput of the whole transmission period. The procedure of relay and MCS selection can be formulated as a discounted Markov decision chain, and the relay policy can be obtained with recent advances in stochastic control algorithms. Simulation results are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed scheme.     

Fair resource allocation and DF relay selection for multiuser OFDMA-based cooperative networks

We investigate the joint problem of power and subcarrier allocation with relay selection for a multi-user multi-relay cellular system with selective relaying. We first formulate the optimal problem using Boolean-convex optimization with the objective of improving the average network capacity while providing proportional rate fairness to all users. We show that except for very small network instances the model is computationally very complex to solve. Then, we present a sub-optimal model by decomposing the joint problem into two sub-problems. This model proves to be a simple one, however, the sub-optimal design of the first sub-problem restricts the model from achieving near optimal solutions. Therefore, to achieve near optimal solutions, we propose an iterative two step method where near-optimal solutions can be achieved by iterating between the two steps. Numerical results show that for smaller networks this two step iterative method obtains optimal solutions in much less time. We also show that a selective relaying technique always achieves better performance over the always relaying technique.