DMT Optimal Cooperative Protocols with Destination-Based Selection of the Best Relay

• Published in: IEEE transactions on wireless communications Vol. 10; no. 7; pp. 2218 - 2227
• Main Author: Escrig, B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY IEEE 01.07.2011; Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Access methods and protocols, osi model; Applied sciences; Coding, codes; Computer Science; Cooperation; Cooperative communications; diversity multiplexing trade-off (DMT); Exact sciences and technology; Fading; Frames; Information, signal and communications theory; Maximization; Media Access Protocol; Messages; multiple access control (MAC) protocols; Multiplexing; Networking and Internet Architecture; Optimization; Receivers; Relay; Relays; Signal and communications theory; Switching and signalling; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Tables; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Teleprocessing networks. Isdn; Terminals; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); Wireless communication; Access control; Performance evaluation; multiple access control (MAC) protocols; Multiple access; Relay; Meshed network; Wireless telecommunication; Space diversity; Transmission protocol; Data transmission; Decoding; Spatial multiplexing; Signalling; Collision processes; Cooperative communications; Integrated design; Acknowledgment; Wireless network; Routing protocols; Access protocol; diversity multiplexing trade-off (DMT); Collision avoidance; Message transmission; Transmission error; Communications; Cooperative
• ISSN: 1536-1276; 1558-2248
• DOI: 10.1109/TWC.2011.051311.101001

We design a cooperative protocol in the context of wireless mesh networks in order to increase the reliability of wireless links. Destination terminals ask for cooperation when they fail in decoding data frames transmitted by source terminals. In that case, each destination terminal D calls a specific relay terminal B with a signaling frame to help its transmission with source terminal S. To select appropriate relays, destination terminals maintain tables of relay terminals, one for each possible source address. These tables are constituted by passively overhearing ongoing transmissions. Hence, when cooperation is needed between S and D, and when a relay B is found by terminal D in the relay table associated with terminal S, the destination terminal sends a negative acknowledgment frame that contains the address of B. When the best relay B has successfully decoded the source message, it sends a copy of the data frame to D using a selective decode-and-forward transmission scheme. The on-demand approach allows maximization of the spatial multiplexing gain and the cooperation of the best relay allows maximization of the spatial diversity order. Hence, the proposed protocol achieves optimal diversity-multiplexing trade-off performance. Moreover, this performance is achieved through a collision-free selection process.