Antenna subset selection at multi‐antenna relay with adaptive modulation

In this paper, we proposed several antenna selection schemes for cooperative diversity systems with adaptive transmission. The proposed schemes were based on dual‐hop relaying where a relay with multiple‐antenna capabilities at reception and transmission is deployed between the source and the destination nodes. We analyzed the performance of the proposed schemes by quantifying the average spectral efficiency and the outage probability. We also investigated the trade‐off of performance and complexity by comparing the average number of active antennas, path estimations, and signal‐to‐noise ratio comparisons of the different proposed schemes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

A novel relay selection algorithm using ant colony optimization with artificial noise for secrecy enhancement in cooperative networks

Cooperative communication is one of the fastest growing research areas of today. It can efficiently mitigate the effect of shadowing and fading with the help of relays and proper relay selection technique. In this paper, a novel relay selection scheme combined with artificial noise (AN) is devised to enhance the secrecy of cooperative networks with amplify‐and‐forward scheme, over Rayleigh fading channels in the presence of a passive eavesdropper. The probability of path selection of ant colony optimization algorithm is used for selecting the best relay with high end‐to‐end signal‐to‐noise ratio. The probability of choosing a path depends on the significance of channel gain (G) and fading coefficients (h). The proposed algorithm finds the best relay in the following wireless scenarios: when (i) both channel gain and fading coefficients are significant; (ii) only fading coefficients are significant; and (iii) only channel gain is significant. Because the direct links between source and destination and source and eavesdropper are considered, AN along with the information is sent by both the source and the selected relay. The performance is evaluated based on secrecy rate (R_s); for the relays randomly placed between the source and destination and for different eavesdropper's location. The results show that the proposed relay selection scheme achieves better secrecy for different wireless scenarios compared with traditional schemes. With the help of AN, the secrecy rate can be made positive even when the eavesdropper lies near to source.     

Nth best relay selection with network coding in two‐way relay systems

In this paper, we propose an Nth best relay selection (Nth‐RS) scheme for analog network coding in two‐way relay systems. In traditional two‐way single‐relay selection schemes, only the best one is selected to forward network‐coded signals. However, in practical applications, the best relay may be unavailable because of the scheduling or overload constraints. In this case, we investigate a more general scheme, where the Nth best but available relay is selected. To evaluate the transmission of reliability, the expression of outage probability in exponential–integral form and its asymptotic expression in closed form are presented. Moreover, the upper bound and lower bound of outage probability are also derived. The analysis reveals that the diversity order of Nth‐RS equals to (M ? N + 1), where M is the number of relay nodes, and the results are verified by simulations. In order to improve system performance, transmit power between sources and relay is optimally allocated to minimize the upper bound of outage probability under total power constraint. Simulation results show that Nth‐RS scheme with proposed power allocation can achieve substantial improvement over equal power allocation scheme. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Game‐theoretic modeling and analysis of relay selection in cooperative wireless networks

In this paper, distributed single relay selection in cooperative wireless networks is modeled as a Chinese restaurant game (CRG). Specifically, the CRG is used to model strategic relay selection decisions of source nodes, taking into account negative network externality due to the potential sharing of relay nodes among source nodes. Two cases are studied as follows: (i) perfect relay transmit power (RTP) knowledge and (ii) imperfect RTP knowledge. Under the first case, a distributed relay selection algorithm is proposed and shown to converge to a Nash equilibrium grouping. Under the second case, a reinforcement learning algorithm is proposed and combined with the distributed relay selection algorithm to allow network nodes to select rate‐maximizing relays. Simulation results verify the efficiency of the proposed distributed relay selection algorithm when compared with other relay selection schemes and demonstrate that it yields a network sum‐rate that is comparable with that of centralized relay selection. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance analysis of spectrally efficient amplify‐and‐forward opportunistic relaying scheme for adaptive cooperative wireless systems

In this paper, we propose an adaptive amplify‐and‐forward (AF) relaying scheme that selects the best relay among the available relay nodes opportunistically to cooperate with a source node for improvement of the spectral efficiency. This improvement can be achieved by introducing a policy that gives the useful cooperative regions and defines a switching threshold signal‐to‐noise ratio that guarantees the bit error rate (BER) of cooperative transmission is below the target. We model all links as independent non‐identically distributed Rayleigh fading channels. We then derive closed‐form expressions for the average spectral efficiency, average BER, and outage probability when an upper bound for the signal‐to‐noise ratio of the end‐to‐end relay path is applied and adaptive discrete rate is considered. Numerical and simulation results show that the proposed scheme, compared with the outage‐based AF incremental relaying, AF fixed relaying, and the conventional direct transmission, can achieve the maximum average spectral efficiency while maintaining the average BER and outage probability. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exact capacity analysis of multi‐relay multiuser cooperative networks based on two‐step selection

This paper advocates the capacity analysis of an amplify‐and‐forward cooperative communication system model in multi‐relay multiuser networks. A two‐step selection scheme is adopted, and both relay and user selection are based on the outdated channel state information. Exact expression of channel capacity for independent, but not necessarily identically distributed, Rayleigh fading channels is derived. Finally, simulations are carried out to verify the correctness of theoretical analysis and illustrate the effect of parameters on the performance. Results show that although the performance of our scheme is inferior to the optimal joint selection scheme, it is still a practical scheme because its complexity is much lower than that of the optimal scheme. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimal power‐aware relay placement for cooperative wireless sensor networks

We study the problem of optimizing the symbol error probability (SEP) performance of cluster‐based cooperative wireless sensor networks. Recent studies in literature show that an efficient relay selection protocol based on simple geographical information of the nodes to execute cooperative diversity can significantly improve the SEP performance at the destination of such networks. As well, similar line of research on optimal power allocation (for the source and relay nodes) can be found in literature. However, to achieve the best SEP performance at the destination of a cooperative wireless sensor network, joint optimization of power allocation and relay placement should be accomplished. To this aim, we reformulate the SEP of a multi‐hop cooperative communication in a general form and optimize transmitted power level and relay placement simultaneously. This analysis is developed for both amplify‐and‐forward and decode‐and‐forward relaying protocols. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed joint optimization can effectively improve the SEP performance of the network. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Packet splitting and adaptive modulation based on CSI of time domain for decode‐and‐forward cooperative OFDM systems in different channel model

Cooperative communications obtain the transmission and channel diversity gains by using the relay node. However, since cooperative communications transmit the redundancy signal to obtain the transmission diversity gain, the transmission rate is degraded. Moreover, since cooperative communications add the interference in the relay node, the diversity gain is also degraded. The packet splitting has been proposed based on the channel state information of the time domain to obtain the good system performance without the redundancy signal. Moreover, the adaptive modulation has been proposed to improve the transmission rate. In this paper, we propose the combination method with the packet splitting and the adaptive modulation based on the channel state information of the time domain to improve the bit error rate and throughput performances for decode‐and‐forward cooperative orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems in the different channel model. From the computer simulation results, we determine the optimum weight and threshold for the proposed method. Moreover, the proposed method shows the good bit error rate and throughput performances.     

Cooperative amplify‐and‐forward partial relay selection with outdated channel information in spectrum‐sharing systems

Recently, cooperative relaying techniques have been integrated into spectrum‐sharing systems in an effort to yield higher spectral efficiency. Many investigations on such systems have assumed that the channel state information between the secondary transmitter and primary receiver used to calculate the maximum allowable transmit secondary user transmit power to limit the interference is known to be perfect. However, because of feedback delay from the primary receiver or the time‐varying properties of the channel, the channel information may be outdated, which is an important scenario to cognitive radio systems. In this paper, we investigate the impact of outdated channel state information for relay selection on the performance of partial relay selection with amplify and forward in underlay spectrum‐sharing systems. We begin by deriving a closed‐form expression for the outage probability of the secondary network in a Rayleigh fading channel along with peak received interference power constraint and maximum allowable secondary user transmit power. We also provide a closed‐form expression for the average bit‐error rate of the underlying system. Moreover, we present asymptotic expressions for both the outage probability and average bit‐error rate in the high signal‐to‐noise ratio regime that reveal practical insights on the achievable diversity gain. Finally, we confirm our results through comparisons with computer simulations. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Novel noncoherent detection for multi‐hop amplify‐and‐forward relaying systems

Because of the multiplication of fading gains and noise, the actual distributions of the received signals in multi‐hop amplify‐and‐forward relaying systems are no longer Gaussian. In this work, they are fitted with the t location‐scale distribution and the logistic distribution. Using these distributions, two novel noncoherent detectors are proposed based on the maximum likelihood method. Numerical results show that both new detectors outperform the conventional energy detector. The performance gain increases when the signal‐to‐noise ratio increases or when the hop number decreases. Importantly, the bit error rate of the conventional energy detector reaches an error floor while the bit error rates of the new detectors do not. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decode‐and‐forward with partial relay selection

Exact expressions for outage probability and symbol error rate are presented for a decode‐and‐forward cooperative network with partial relay selection. An independent but not identically distributed Nakagami‐m fading environment is considered. Numerical and simulated results show the validity of the analytical results. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nelder‐Mead–based power optimization for secrecy enhancement in amplify‐and‐forward cooperative relay networks

Cooperative communication based on relaying nodes has been considered as a promising technique to increase the physical layer security (PLS) performance in wireless communications. In this paper, an optimal power allocation (OPA) scheme based on Nelder‐Mead (NM) algorithm is proposed for improving the secrecy rate of amplify‐and‐forward (AF) cooperative relay networks employing cooperative jamming (CJ) scheme. The proposed hybrid jamming scheme allows the source and selected relay to transmit the jamming signal along with the information to confound the eavesdropper. The path selection probability of ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is used for selecting the relay for transmission. The performance based on secrecy rate is evaluated for “n” trusted relays distributed dispersedly between the source and destination. Gradient‐based optimization and three‐dimensional exhaustive search methods are used as benchmark schemes for comparison of the proposed power optimization algorithm. The secrecy performance is also compared with conventional AF scheme and CJ scheme without power optimization (EPA). The impact of single and multiple relays on secrecy performance is also evaluated. Numerical results reveal that, compared with the gradient method and exhaustive search algorithm, the proposed power allocation strategy achieves optimal performance. Also, the derived OPA results show a significantly higher secrecy rate than the EPA strategy for both CJ and AF schemes.     

Amplify‐and‐forward‐based cooperative jamming strategy with power allocation for secure communication

This paper deals with the use of jamming transmission for secure amplify‐and‐forward‐based relay networks with total power constraints. An approach that the source and the relay use some of their available power to transmit jamming signals in order to create interference at the eavesdropper is investigated. Assume that the relay and destination have an a priori knowledge of the jamming signals. A power allocation policy that defines how the available power is distributed between the message signal and that of the jamming signal is presented. The results show that the proposed approach can increase the secrecy level and that a positive secrecy rate can be achieved even when the eavesdropper may be near the source. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beamforming for inter‐relay interference reduction in MIMO‐aided two‐path successive relaying

To effectively reduce the inter‐relay interference (IRI) in two‐path successive relaying, two beamforming schemes are proposed in this paper, utilizing multiple‐antenna relay nodes. Specifically, the two cooperation nodes perform receive combining of the source signal and transmit beamforming of the relayed signal alternately in the successive relaying process. As a result, the IRI between them can be effectively suppressed, thanks to the additional degree of freedom provided by the multiple‐input multiple‐output inter‐relay channel. In the first beamforming scheme, the source‐to‐destination signal‐to‐interference‐plus‐noise ratios (SINR) of separate paths are maximized with approximation, leading to a minimum variance distortionless response beamformer under the high SINR condition. To further improve the system performance, noting that the received SINRs of the two paths have impact on each other due to the mutual coupling of the beamformers, the sum of mean squared errors from these two transmission paths is minimized in the second scheme. Based on this performance criterion, a suboptimal beamformer design is developed numerically through cyclic minimization of the sum of mean squared error cost function. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of both proposed beamforming schemes in terms of symbol error rate and the achievable system rate, in particular, at high IRI levels. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Outage performance of relay selection with spatially random relays using RF energy harvesting

To enable green wireless networks, one appealing approach is to deploy energy harvesting (EH) relays to assist the source transmission. Unlike conventional relays relying on fixed power supplies, EH relays make use of the energy collected from the RF radiation of the source node, and thus, they do not introduce extra energy cost to the network. This paper presents an analytical study to assess the efficacy of EH relays when the one with the maximal end‐to‐end signal‐to‐noise ratio is selected to perform data relaying while others perform EH. Because the action (either harvesting energy or forwarding data) of one EH relay affects those of others, exact performance analysis is not tractable. Additionally, relay density and positions may be random, which further complicates the analysis. Our analysis is conducted based on the hypothesis that each EH relay has an equal chance to be selected. This hypothesis allows for analytical tractability and is of importance to EH relays because otherwise some may drain their batteries fast. We identify the conditions under which the aforementioned hypothesis is valid. Our analysis also considers two variants of amplify‐and‐forward relays with and without using channel state information. Numerical results are presented to validate the analysis accuracy along with extensive discussions on the impact of numerous system parameters. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Two‐pilot channel estimation scheme for amplify‐and‐forward relay networks

In amplify‐and‐forward relay networks, the equivalent channel to the destination node is not independent of equivalent noise and the equivalent noise does not follow a Gaussian distribution. Therefore, it is difficult to directly estimate the equivalent channel based on traditional optimal rules. In this paper, we propose a two‐pilot estimation (TPE) scheme that decomposes a non‐Gaussian noise channel estimation problem into two channel estimation problems in Gaussian noise. In TPE scheme, the relay‐destination channel is first estimated by one pilot and the other pilot is used to estimate the equivalent channel with the aid of the estimated relay‐destination channel. Simulation results show that the TPE scheme can achieve less estimation error and larger system throughput than other existing channel estimators in slow fading case. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of average symbol error rate and optimal power allocation for two‐way opportunistic relaying with amplify‐and‐forward protocol

In this paper, we investigate the statistical characteristics of the equivalent end‐to‐end signal‐to‐noise ratios (SNRs), the average symbol error ratios (SERs), and the optimal power allocation (OPA) for two‐way amplify‐and‐forward opportunistic relaying (TWOR‐AF) systems. First, with strict mathematic manipulation, we obtain the closed‐form solutions to the PDF, CDF, and moment generating function of the end‐to‐end SNRs. Then, based on the obtained statistical results, we present the total average SER of the Non‐OPA TWOR‐AF systems by using the appropriate approximation, in which only the greater segment of the two terminal SERs is considered. Finally, by aiming at minimizing the total average SER and using the SNRs balancing condition at both transceivers, we study the OPA problem subject to a total transmission power constraint. The comparison analysis shows that, for the Non‐OPA TWOR‐AF systems, we can only evaluate exactly the greater segment of the two SERs of the received signals at two transceivers by using the derivations. However, for the OPA TWOR‐AF systems, with our derivations we can evaluate exactly not only each segment of the two terminal SERs but also the sum SER (exact total SER). Moreover, the simulations show the OPA TWOR‐AF systems outperform the Non‐OPA TWOR‐AF systems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.