Maximum multi-hop range using cooperative transmission with a fixed number of nodes

We explore range expansion along an appointed direction using a fixed number of mobile nodes that do distributed multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) in the diversity configuration, also known as cooperative transmission (CT). The emphasis is on optimal groupings and locations of groups to maximize the multi-hop reach along a line; such information may inform the motion of robots that are deployed as far away as possible from a fixed base station yet still maintain connectivity. Also the impact of message-sharing within a cluster before relaying is considered. The simulation results show that for different fixed number of nodes, Rayleigh fading and arbitrary path loss exponent, there are preferred deployments depending on path loss exponent and sharing strategy.