Distributed Spatial Modulation for Relay Networks

A cooperative diversity protocol for multi-relay wireless networks is proposed. Its distinguishable feature is to protect the transmission of the source through distributed diversity while simultaneously serving the data traffic of the relays. Therefore, the performance of the source is improved without reducing the aggregate throughput. The protocol exploits a recently introduced concept for multiple- antennas wireless systems, which is known as Spatial Modulation (SM). The contribution of this paper is threefold: i) the optimal receiver that takes into account demodulation errors at the relays is developed; ii) its achievable diversity is studied analytically; and iii) it is shown, with the help of Monte Carlo simulations, that it outperforms state- of-the-art cooperative diversity protocols.