Performance and diversity analysis of decode‐and‐forward cooperative system over Nakagami‐m fading channels

In this paper, we derive the upper bound of bit‐error rate (BER) performance and diversity gain for a decode‐and‐forward (DF) cooperative system. Either maximal‐ratio combining (MRC) or cooperative MRC (C‐MRC) is employed at the receiver in the presence of independent, non‐identical Nakagami‐m fading. Both analytical and simulation results show that C‐MRC takes advantage of spatial diversity more efficiently and thus achieves the same or better performance and diversity order as compared to MRC. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.