Resource allocation and block coding within a three-stage collaborative broadband relay network

In this work we propose a power control algorithm for a multi-input multi-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) multi-hop collaborative relaying network. Using orthogonal and quasi-orthogonal block codes with three stage processing our algorithm optimally distributes available transmission power based on the architecture and the channel condition at each stage so as to minimize the end-to-end bit error rate (BER) of the entire relay network. For high data rate applications with maximum throughput (as expected for future OFDM systems), we employ a regenerative relaying process, where the relays at each stage decode and through collaborative processing, re-encode the received data before onward transmission to the next stage and then to the destination. We provide simulation results that confirm the performance improvement in the end-to-end bit error rate (BER) of the network using our explicit power allocation algorithm as compared with equal power distribution technique.