Full interference cancellation for an asymptotically full rate cooperative four relay network

We propose the use of a complex orthogonal distributed space-time code within a two-hop cooperative wireless four relay network, which can achieve asymptotically full rate and full cooperative diversity. In this scheme the four relay nodes are arranged as two groups of two relay nodes, both of which employ the Alamouti distributed space time block coding (DSTC) design, but with offset transmission scheduling. Therefore, the source can serially transmit data to the destination and the overall rate can approach one when the number of samples is large. However, the four-path relay scheme may suffer from inter-relay interference which is caused by the simultaneous transmission of the source and another group of relays. A full interference cancellation (FIC) approach is therefore used to remove the inter-relay interference. Bit error rate simulations confirm the utility of the scheme. © 2010 IEEE