Symbol error probability analysis of MIMO-relay multiplexing scheme in IEEE 802.16j systems

This paper presents the symbol error probability (SEP) analysis of MIMO-relay multiplexing configuration for IEEE 802.16j systems. The availability of multiple MIMO relay paths in IEEE 802.16j motivates two relay configurations: i) Relay Diversity and ii) Relay Multiplexing. Existing works have focused on the relay diversity methods. In this paper, we explore the relay multiplexing alternative where relay stations (RSs) are deployed to act as independent data pipes for transmitting multiple independent data streams from the Base Station (BS) to the Mobile Station (MS). We derive analytical expressions for the SEP performance of the proposed scheme, and also complement the analysis with simulations. It is observed from our SEP results that MIMO-relay multiplexing approach is practicable, when the number of antennas at the BS and MS are equal or greater than the total number of antennas on all RSs. In such scenarios, parallel relaying of independent data streams via different RSs offers acceptable SEP performance while boosting the capacity of the system linearly with the number of parallel RSs.