Selective combining for hybrid cooperative networks

In this study, we consider the selective combining in hybrid cooperative networks (SCHCNs scheme) with one source node, one destination node and N relay nodes. In the SCHCN scheme, each relay first adaptively chooses between amplify-and-forward protocol and decode-and-forward protocol on a per frame basis by examining the error-detecting code result, and Nc (1 ≤ Nc ≤ N ) relays will be selected to forward their received signals to the destination. We first develop a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) threshold-based frame error rate (FER) approximation model. Then, the theoretical FER expressions for the SCHCN scheme are derived by utilizing the proposed SNR threshold-based FER approximation model. The analytical FER expressions are validated through simulation results. Index Terms Cooperative networks, frame error rate, hybrid forwarding scheme, relay selection, selective combining. Published in IET Communications. Manuscript received May 5, 2013; revised August 26, 2013; accepted September 23, 2013. Q. Huo, L. Song, and B. Jiao are with the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Optical Communication Systems and Networks, and the Wireless Communications and Signal Processing Research Center, School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China (e-mail: {qiang.huo, lingyang.song, jiaobl}@pku.edu.cn). T. Liu is with Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Holdings, Beijing 100871, China (e-mail: Email: [email protected]). S. Sun is with Peking University, Beijing 100871, China (e-mail: [email protected]). This work was partially supported by the National 973 project under grant number 2013CB336700, National Nature Science Foundation of China under grant number 61222104 and 61061130561, the Ph.D. Programs Foundation of Ministry of Education of China under grant number 20110001110102, and the Opening Project of Key Laboratory of Cognitive Radio and Information Processing (Guilin University of Electronic Technology). Digital Object Identifier 10.1049/iet-com.2013.0323