Performance analysis of cooperative DF relaying over correlated Nakagami-m fading channels

In this paper, we investigate the performance of cooperative decode-and-forward (DF) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relaying system with orthogonal space-time block code (OSTBC) transmissions over correlated Nakagami-m fading channels. For maximal ratio combining (MRC) receiver at the destination, we provide the compact closed-form expressions for cumulative distribution function (CDF) and probability density function (PDF) of the instantaneous end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In addition, the exact analytical expressions are also derived for the outage probability (OP) and symbol error rate (SER) relying on CDF. Furthermore, we present the asymptotic expressions for OP and SER in the high SNR regime, from which we gain an insight into the system performance and derive the achievable diversity order and array gain. The analytical expressions are validated through Monte-Carlo simulations.