Accurate Bit-Error-Rate Analysis of Bandlimited Cooperative OSTBC Networks Under Timing Synchronization Errors

The distributed multiple-input–multiple-output (MIMO) system (e.g., intercluster communication via cooperating nodes in a wireless sensor network) is a topic of emerging interest. Many previous studies have assumed perfect synchronization among cooperating nodes and identically distributed communication links. Such assumptions are rarely valid in practical operating scenarios. This paper develops an analytical framework for computing the average bit error rate (ABER) of a distributed multiple-input–single-output (MISO) space-time-coded system with binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation affected by timing synchronization errors. The cooperating nodes use data pulse-shaping filters for transmission over generalized frequency-nonselective fading channels. As an illustrative example, the performance evaluation of a 2 $\times$ 1 MISO system that uses distributed orthogonal space-time block coding (OSTBC) is presented, although this approach can be readily extended to analyze distributed transmit diversity with a larger number of cooperating nodes. We show that under certain conditions, a distributed MISO system with time synchronization errors can still outperform a perfectly synchronized single-input–single-output (SISO) system.