Performance evaluation of STBC based cooperative systems over slow Rayleigh fading channel

In this paper, we study the transmit diversity of the cooperative relay system employing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology, especially for the Alamouti space-time block codes (STBC), over slow Rayleigh fading channel. The transmit diversity gain is achieved by STBC and cooperative technology. Maximum ratio combining (MRC) and maximum likelihood detection (MLD) are applied in the destination node. Two typical relay protocols, generation relay and non-generation relay with two cooperative implementation schemes are studied in this paper. Our attention is paid to the realization and signal processing algorithms of different STBC coded cooperative systems. System bit error probabilities of these cooperative systems are provided in the simulation. Compared with the conventional noncooperative system and Alamouti STBC scheme, the STBC coded cooperative system obtains two inherent benefits, achieving the spatial diversity offered by the relay channel and also the ability to exert the characteristics of STBC into the relay system. 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.