Outage probability analysis of a multi-path cooperative communication scheme based on single relay selection

In this paper, we consider outage probability analysis of an amplify-and-forward (AF) type two-hop cooperative multi-relay communication network which transmits over multi-path channels with best single relay selection. The multi-path links are modeled in the time domain as an Erlang distribution function. By exploiting this model, we are able to analyse the outage probability through the cumulative density function (CDF) of the end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for an arbitrary multi-path channel length L and an arbitrary number of relay nodes N with best single relay selection. Moreover, the spatial and temporal cooperative diversity order of the network is studied. Finally, theoretical outage probability is verified by simulation.