Analyses of Achievable Gains in Half Duplex MIMO Relaying Schemes Using Multiple Relay Nodes

Hui SHI
Tetsushi ABE
Takahiro ASAI
Hitoshi YOSHINO

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Communications   Vol.E90-B    No.9    pp.2541-2551
Publication Date: 2007/09/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1345
DOI: 10.1093/ietcom/e90-b.9.2541
Print ISSN: 0916-8516
Type of Manuscript: PAPER
Category: Wireless Communication Technologies
Keyword: 
MIMO wireless relay networks,  distributed array gain,  intra-node array gain,  spatial multiplexing gain,  QR decomposition,  phase control,  

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Summary: 
In multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) wireless relay networks, simultaneously using multiple relay nodes can improve the capacity of source-to-destination communications. Recent information theories have shown that passing the same message across multiple relay nodes can improve the capacity of source-to-destination communications. We have previously proposed three relay schemes that use jointly QR decomposition and the phase control matrix; computer simulations have confirmed the superiority of these schemes over conventional ones such as amplify-and-forward and zero-forcing schemes. In this paper, we analyze the capacity and achievable gains (distributed array gain, intra-node array gain and spatial multiplexing gain) of the previously proposed relay schemes (QR-P-QR, QR-P-ZF, and ZF-P-QR) and thus provide an insight into what contributes to their superiority over conventional schemes. The analyses show that the location of the relay nodes used has a significant impact on capacity. On the basis of this observation, we further propose a method that enables each relay node to individually select its relay scheme according to its channel conditions so as to maximize the capacity. A computer simulation confirms the capacity improvement achieved by the proposed selection method.