Symbol Error Rate Analysis for Cooperative Diversity Networks in Raighlay Channels

In this paper, the Symbol Error Rate (SER) performance formulation which suited to multi-node amplify-and-forward cooperative communication M-PSK constellation systems with the mean channel gains is derived. Firstly, the closed-form theory symbol error rate formulation with M-PSK modulation is derived. Then, a Low Bound (LB) is established to show the asymptotic performance of the cooperation protocol which tightens the theory SER under the both low and high Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) conditions. Thirdly, the optimal power allocation algorithm for multi-node cooperative communication systems which minimizes the SER performance based on the Low Bound (LB) is formulated. SER comparison between the proposed approximate optimal power allocation method and the traditional Equal Power Allocation (EPA) method, the SER performance for the approximate optimal power allocation is better than the EPA's, especially under the channel conditions which the relay nodes are near the middle locations between the source and destination node or near the destination node.