A smart scheme for relay selection in cooperative wireless communication systems

The performance of multiple-input multiple-output systems using spatial multiplexing can be degraded when the spatial information channels are correlated. This work proposes a solution to this problem, which is based on a cooperative wireless communication system. Within the cooperative system, the relay is selected either randomly or using the smart selection scheme, a simple and distributed approach proposed herein. These relay selection schemes are evaluated for several situations within a small cell environment, using a simulator that generates frequency-selective channel realizations. The simulation results show that the smart selection scheme yields high capacity gains close to the theoretical maximum gain.