Capacity of selection cooperation with channel estimation errors

In this paper, we investigate the performance of selection cooperation in the presence of channel estimation errors. In particular, we consider a cooperative scenario with multiple relays and amplify-and-forward protocol over frequency flat fading channels. In the selection scheme, only the “best” relay which maximizes the effective signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the receiver end is selected. We present an upper bound on the effective SNR and derive closed-form expressions for the average capacity in the presence of channel estimation error. A simulation study is presented to corroborate the analytical results.