Complex field network coding with OFDM in distributed wireless networks

Cooperative diversity method is a major way to significantly increase the capacity of multi-source distributed wireless networks with improved coverage. On the other hand, complex field network coding (CFNC) helps mitigate the spectral efficiency loss incurred by traditional relaying schemes in larger networks. Considering the frequency selective fading nature of wireless channels, it would be a practical approach to combine orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) with CFNC in wireless relay networks. Therefore, in this paper, we make a thorough analysis of CFNC in distributed wireless networks, combined with OFDM. Different relaying schemes such as amplify and forward (AAF) and decode and forward (DAF) are used for evaluating the system performance. Moreover, we also consider relay selection technique with both AAF and DAF schemes. Simulation results are presented for uncoded and convolutionally coded relaying schemes for CFNC when OFDM is incorporated in the given setup.