Complex Field Coding in Multi-Source Cooperative Networks for Full Diversity

Recently, error control codes, including convolutional codes, have been used in multi-source cooperation (MSC) networks to provide higher diversity and code rates relative to repetition-based single source cooperation alternatives. For an MSC network with K active users, it has been established that the maximum diversity order is less than K for any error control code with code rate R > 1/K. This paper introduces distributed complex field coding (DCFC) in MSC networks. Theoretical analysis reveals that DCFC-MSC is capable of enabling full diversity order equal to K, at a fixed rate 1/2. Simulations verify that DCFC-MSC can improve system performance markedly.