Decentralized wireless relay network channel modeling: an analogous approach to mobile radio channel characterization

A novel channel model for a two-hop decentralized wireless relay network (DWRN) is presented, where the relays operate in a completely distributive fashion. The model is based on an analogous approach to the conventional description methods for wideband directional multipath channels. First, the concept of information azimuth-delay spectrum (IADS) is devised for a simplified DWRN with perfect receiver conditions. The IADS describes the distribution of the incoming information at the destination in the azimuth-delay domain. This definition, parallel to the widely-used power azimuth-delay spectrum (PADS) for physical multipath channels, represents a compact description of virtual DWRN channels. Subsequently, several key quantities derived from the IADS are introduced, which provide an intuitive way for analysis of a DWRN. The proposed approach is then applied to an elliptical random network (ERN) with uniformly distributed relay nodes. Numerical examples are used to demonstrate the usefulness of the suggested channel description method.