Hybrid forward scheme with generalized selective combining

We investigate hybrid forward protocol with generalized selective combining (HGSC) in a two-hop relay network with one source, one destination, and N relays. In the HGSC scheme, each relay first adaptively chooses, on a frame basis, between amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) protocols by examining the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) result, and Nc (1 ≤ N_c ≤ N) relays will be selected to forward their received signals to the destination. To analyze the theoretical performance, we utilize a SNR-threshold-based FER approximation model to derive a closed-form FER expression and a simplified form at high SNRs for the HGSC scheme. The analytical results are verified through simulations.