Performance analysis of coded cooperation diversity

In a multi-user environment, coded cooperation creates transmit diversity for small mobiles (e.g. handsets) that cannot support more than one antenna. Coded cooperation allows these mobiles to share their antennas via a simple and effective coding method. In this work we present an analytical methodology for evaluating the performance of coded cooperation. We develop tight bounds for bit and block error capabilities, showing in the process that coded cooperation achieves maximal diversity. We demonstrate the validity of these bounds via simulations.