Cyclic Distributed Space–Time Codes for Wireless Relay Networks With No Channel Information

In this paper, we present a coding strategy for half duplex wireless relay networks, where we assume no channel knowledge at any of the transmitter, receiver, or relays. The coding scheme uses distributed space–time coding, that is, the relay nodes cooperate to encode the transmitted signal so that the receiver senses a space–time codeword. It is inspired by noncoherent differential techniques. The proposed strategy is available for any number of relays nodes. It is analyzed, and shown to yield a diversity linear in the number of relays. We also study the resistance of the scheme to relay node failures, and show that a network with R relay nodes and d of them down behaves, as far as diversity is concerned, as a network with R-d nodes. Finally, our construction can be easily generalized to the case where the transmitter and receiver nodes have several antennas

Code Design for Multihop Wireless Relay Networks

We consider a wireless relay network, where a transmitter node communicates with a receiver node with the help of relay nodes. Most coding strategies considered so far assume that the relay nodes are used for one hop. We address the problem of code design when relay nodes may be used for more than one hop. We consider as a protocol a more elaborated version of amplify-and-forward, called distributed space-time coding, where the relay nodes multiply their received signal with a unitary matrix, in such a way that the receiver senses a space-time code. We first show that in this scenario, as expected, the so-called full-diversity condition holds, namely, the codebook of distributed space-time codewords has to be designed such that the difference of any two distinct codewords is full rank. We then compute the diversity of the channel, and show that it is given by the minimum number of relay nodes among the hops. We finally give a systematic way of building fully diverse codebooks and provide simulation results for their performance

Cyclic division algebras: a tool for space-time coding

Multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver ends of a wireless digital transmission channel may increase both data rate and reliability. Reliable high rate transmission over such channels can only be achieved through Space–Time coding. Rank and determinant code design criteria have been proposed to enhance diversity and coding gain. The special case of full-diversity criterion requires that the difference of any two distinct codewords has full rank. Extensive work has been done on Space–Time coding, aiming at finding fully diverse codes with high rate. Division algebras have been proposed as a new tool for constructing Space–Time codes, since they are non-commutative algebras that naturally yield linear fully diverse codes. Their algebraic properties can thus be further exploited to improve the design of good codes. The aim of this work is to provide a tutorial introduction to the algebraic tools involved in the design of codes based on cyclic division algebras. The different design criteria involved will be illustrated, including the constellation shaping, the information lossless property, the non-vanishing determinant property, and the diversity multiplexing trade-off. The final target is to give the complete mathematical background underlying the construction of the Golden code and the other Perfect Space–Time block codes