Partial decode-forward transmission and channel estimation methods for cooperative communications

In this paper, we propose a new transmission scheme for relay-based cooperative communication. The proposed partial decode and forward method renders better bit error rate performance at reduced complexity and lower power consumption at the receiver. Unlike conventional decode-forward and amplify-forward schemes, the relay generates soft-value estimates of the received symbols and retransmits the estimated soft value symbols to the final destination. In accordance with the partial decode and forward scheme, a novel channel estimation technique is also introduced here. A simple redesign of the preamble sequence at the relay enables the destination to concurrently estimate the product of the channel state information between source & relay, and relay & destination. Extensive numerical analyses and simulations show that the proposed scheme attains considerable performance gains against the conventional decode-forward and amplify-forward schemes, which proves to be a good trade-off.