Approximate analysis of MIMO based cooperative communication in α - μ channel distribution

In the present work we have analysed the performance of a dual hop cooperative communication system. Multiple relays are taken for DF (Decode and Forward) relaying of signal from source to the destination over i.i.d. α - μ generalized fading channel distribution. Multiple antennas are realized at all the receive and transmit nodes on the source, relay and destination with Orthogonal Space Time Block Coding (OSTBC) implementation. Theoretical approximation for Symbol Error Rate (SER) performance is evaluated for Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) and 4-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (4-QAM) schemes as a function of Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) using the Moment Generating Function (MGF) of the channel distribution. The variation of performance with number of relays used is studied. Monte Carlo simulation is used for verification of the analytical expression obtained.