Average bit error rate of best relay selection protocol for cooperative wireless networks over independent nonidentical Nakagami-m channels

This paper investigates the average bit error rate performance for cooperative wireless communication schemes over independent nonidentical Nakagami-m fading channels with arbitrary fading parameters. The network consists of multiple dual-hop nonregenerative relays in addition to a direct path to achieve the cooperative diversity with maximal ratio combining at the destination. The average bit error rate was studied for different coherent binary signal constellations. The joint cumulative distribution function was derived for fixed gain relay and channel state information with upper and lower bounds for exact and approximate solutions. The proposed mathematical analysis are complimented by numerical results for the average bit error rate; including the effect of fading severity of the channel, number of acting relays, and transmitted signal-to-noise ratio.