Maximal ratio combining of two amplify-forward relay branches with individual links experiencing Nakagami fading

Relay based communication has gained considerable importance in the recent years. In this paper we find the end-toend statistics of a two hop non-regenerative relay branch, with each hop being Nakagami-m distributed. Analytical expression for the density function of the signal envelope at the output of a maximal ratio combiner in the destination node is also derived and compared with the simulation results, assuming that the destination node receives the signal through two independent relay paths. These statistics are useful in evaluating the system performance.