Performance of Decode-Based Differential Modulation for Wireless Relay Networks in Nakagami-m Channels

We consider a regenerative differential modulation scheme for wireless networks with relays to seek cooperative diversity. We examine the performance of a differential binary phase shift keying (BPSK) modulation scheme, referred to as the differential decode-and-forward (DDF), for wireless relay networks composed of one source, one relay and one destination node in Nakagami-m fading channels. A regenerative relay differentially decodes/encodes the received signal and forwards it to the destination. A closed form bit error rate (BER) expression is presented for the piece-wise linear (PL) detector. Both analytical and simulation results show that the proposed DDF scheme is capable of providing diversity gain in Nakagami-m fading channels