Joint precoding and power allocation for multiuser transmission in MIMO relay networks

This paper proposes a joint precoding and power allocation strategy to maximize the sum rate of multiuser multiple‐input multiple‐output (MIMO) relay networks. A two‐hop relay link working on amplify‐and‐forward (AF) mode is considered. Precoding and power allocation are designed jointly at the base station (BS). It is assumed that there are no direct links between the BS and users. Under individual power constraints at the BS and relay station, precoders designed based on zero forcing, minimum mean‐square error and maximum ratio transmission are derived, respectively. Optimal power allocation strategies for these precoders are given separately. To demonstrate the performance of the proposed strategies, we simulate the uncoded bit error rate performance of the underlined system. We also show the difference of the sum rate of the system with the optimal power allocation strategies and with average power transmission. The simulation results show the advantages of the proposed joint precoding and power allocation strategies as expected. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.