Cooperative space-time coding for wireless networks

We consider a cooperative system in which the partnering mobiles are equipped with multiple antennas. We present space-time codes that have the capability of providing full cooperation diversity, while achieving maximum possible diversity and best performance in the inter-user channel. Our codes also perform well when cooperation does not take place. We illustrate that cooperative space-time coding offers significant performance improvement over direct transmission even when the inter-user channel is noisy. We also consider code design for users with different numbers of antennas.