Performance Analysis of Network Coded Cooperation with Channel Coding and Adaptive DF-Based Relaying in Rayleigh Fading Channels

Network Coded Cooperation (NCC) is known to provide full diversity order and high spectral efficiency for uncoded cooperative networks. However, the understanding of NCC applied to signals that have been protected by some Forward Error Correction (FEC) codes is still limited. This letter analyzes the diversity order attainable by NCC with channel coding (Coded-NCC) in a network topology with multiple sources, one relay and in the presence of fast Rayleigh fading. Due to the difficulty of characterizing the exchange of information between the network decoder and the channel decoder, iterative network and channel decoding algorithms are usually studied with the aid of simulations. In this letter, we overcome this limitation by proposing a near-optimal receiver that performs network decoding and channel decoding in a single decoding step of an equivalent super code. An upper bound and a tight approximation of the Bit Error Rate (BER) for all sources are derived. Based on the upper bound, we analytically show that Coded-NCC achieves a diversity order equal to 2f, where f is the minimum distance of the FEC code. This result generalizes those available for cooperative networks in the absence of channel coding (Uncoded-NCC), where the diversity order is equal to 2, as well as those available for coded transmission but without cooperation, where the diversity order is equal to f.