Analytic performance evaluation of M-QAM based decode-and-forward relay networks over enriched multipath fading channels

The present work is devoted to the analysis of a regenerative multi-node dual-hop cooperative system over enriched multipath fading channels. Novel analytic expressions are derived for the symbol-error-rate for M-ary quadrature modulated signals in decode-and-forward relay systems over both independent and identically distributed as well as independent and non-identically distributed Nakagami-q (Hoyt) fading channels. The derived expressions are based on the moment-generating-function approach and are given in closed-form in terms of the generalized Lauricella series. The offered results are validated extensively through comparisons with respective results from computer simulations and are useful in the analytic performance evaluation of regenerative cooperative relay communication systems. To this end, it is shown that the performance of the cooperative system is, as expected, affected by the number of employed relays as well as by the value of the fading parameter q, which accounts for pre-Rayleigh fading conditions that are often encountered in mobile cellular radio systems.