Performance analysis of cooperative diversity networks with imperfect channel estimation over Rician fading channels

In this study, the authors examine the effect of a channel-estimation error on the error and outage probabilities of a multi-relay system with amplify-and-forward relaying over a frequency-flat Rician fading channel. The authors consider orthogonal relaying and study both conventional cooperative systems (i.e. all relays participate in the relaying phase) and opportunistic cooperative systems (i.e. only the best relay participates in the relaying phase). Based on the derivation of an effective signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the destination node taking into account channel-estimation error, the authors obtain closed-form expressions for error and outage probabilities in a high SNR regime. Such closed-form solutions are highly desirable because they allow for rapid and efficient evaluation of system performance. Computer simulations are used to validate the authors´ analytical results.