On the mobile wireless access via MIMO relays

While a network with stationary nodes can provide large capacity in many current wireless systems, a network with mobile users suffers from severe performance degradation. This happens due to quick channel variation and its resulting protocol overheads that are especially large for multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In this paper, we propose a relay-assisted multiuser MIMO downlink system to support highly mobile wireless access. Through a theoretical throughput analysis that explicitly considers the protocol overheads, we show that the MIMO relay significantly enhances the sum throughput of the system.