Closed-Form Expressions for the Outage and Error Probabilities of Decode-and-Forward Relaying in Dissimilar Rayleigh Fading Channels

User cooperation protocols, where mobile stations relay signals to the final destination, have been proposed for wireless networks. A general mathematical probability model is developed to study the performance of the decode-and-forward relaying protocol. Practical systems may employ relay channels that experience statistically different signal fadings. The performance of decode-and-forward relaying in channels with dissimilar fading parameters is investigated. In particular, closed-form expressions for the outage and error probabilities of a system with an arbitrary number of relays are derived.