Performance of Decode-and-Forward Cooperative Communications with Channel Estimation Errors over Nakagami-m Fading Channels

Channel estimation error problem is among the main causes of performance degradation in wireless networks. In this paper, we investigate the impact of channel estimation error on cooperative communications. We analyze the symbol error rate (SER) performance of decode-and-forward (DF) cooperative communications with channel estimation error over nakagami-m channels. For the classical three-node cooperation model, the exact SER expressions for M-PSK are derived. We also provide upper bound expressions for the SER. Simulations are finally provided to verify the correctness of our analysis. Given to high SNR, it shows that performance does not improve along with increasing SNR and the SER performance depends more on the channel link between relay and destination than link between source and relay.