In this letter, we propose an energy beamforming empowered relaying scheme for a batteryless IoT network, where wireless-powered relays are deployed between the hybrid access point (HAP) and batteryless IoT devices to assist the uplink information transmission from the devices to the HAP. In particular, the HAP first exploits energy beamforming to efficiently transmit radio frequency (RF) signals to transfer energy to the relays and as the incident signals to enable the information backscattering of batteryless IoT devices. Then, each relay uses the harvested energy to forward the decoded signals from its corresponding batteryless IoT device to the HAP, where the maximum-ratio combing is used for further performance improvement. To maximize the network sum-rate, the joint optimization of energy beamforming vectors at the HAP, network time scheduling, power allocation at the relays, and relection coefficient at the users is investigated. As the formulated problem is non-convex, we propose an alternating optimization algorithm with the variable substitution and semi-definite relaxation (SDR) techniques to solve it efficiently. Specifically, we prove that the obtained energy beamforming matrices are always rank-one. Numerical results show that compared to the benchmark schemes, the proposed scheme can achieve a significant sum-rate gain.

In this paper, we propose applying our previously reported adaptive peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) reduction method using null space in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channel for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) signals to the downlink MIMO amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying transmission. Assuming MIMO-OFDM transmission, mitigating its high PAPR not only at the base station (BS) but also at the relay station (RS) transmitters is essential to achieve sufficient coverage enhancement from the RSs by minimizing the transmission power backoff levels at the nonlinear power amplifier. In this study, we assume an AF-type RS with multiple antennas. In the proposed method, the BS suppresses the PAPR of the transmitted signal through adaptive PAPR reduction utilizing the null space of the integrated overall MIMO channel that combines the channel between the BS and RS and the channel between the RS and a set of user equipment (UE). However, the PAPR of the received signal at each RS antenna is increased again due to the MIMO channel between the BS and RS. The proposed method reduces this increased PAPR at the AF-type RS transmitter by PAPR reduction processing that utilizes the null space in the MIMO channel between the RS and UE. Since the in-band PAPR reduction signal added at the RS transmitter is transmitted only in the null space of the MIMO channel between the RS and UE, interference at the UE receiver is mitigated. Computer simulation results show that the proposed method significantly improves the PAPR-vs.-throughput performance compared to that for the conventional one thanks to the reduced interference levels from the PAPR reduction signal observed at the UE receiver.

In this paper, to improve communication system's energy-efficiency (EE), multi-case optimization of two new transmission strategies is investigated. Firstly, with amplify-and-forward relaying and full-duplex technique, two new transmission strategies are designed. The designed transmission strategies consider direct links and non-ideal transmission conditions. At the same time, detailed capacity and energy consumption analyses of the designed transmission strategies are given. In addition, EE optimization and analysis of the designed transmission strategies are studied. It is the first case of EE optimization and it is achieved by joint optimization of transmit time (TT) and transmit power (TP). Furthermore, the second and third cases of EE optimization with respectively optimizing TT and TP are given. Simulations reveal that the designed transmission strategies can effectively improve the communication system's EE.

This paper proposes coded modulation for physical layer network coding in multiple input multiple output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) bi-directional wireless relay systems where precoding is applied. The proposed coded modulation enables the relays to decode the received signals, which improves the transmission performance. Soft input decoding for the proposed coded modulation is proposed. Furthermore, we propose two precoder weight optimization techniques, called “per subcarrier weight optimization” and “total weight optimization”. This paper shows a precoder configuration based on the optimization with the lattice reduction or the sorted QR-decomposition. The performance of the proposed network coding is evaluated by computer simulation in a MIMO-OFDM two-hop wireless relay system with the 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) or the 256QAM. The proposed coded modulation attains a coding gain of about 2dB at the BER of 10-4. The total weight optimization achieves about 1dB better BER performance than the other at the BER of 10-4.

In this paper, we propose a filter-and-forward relay scheme with energy harvesting for single-carrier transmission in frequency-selective channels. The relay node harvests energy from both the source node transmit signal and its own transmit signal by self-energy recycling. The signal received by the relay node is filtered to suppress the inter-symbol interference and then forwarded to the destination node using the harvested energy. We consider a filter design method based on the signal-to-interference-plus-noise power ratio maximization, subject to a constraint that limits the relay transmit power. In addition, we provide a golden-section search based algorithm to optimize the power splitting ratio of the power splitting protocol. The simulation results show that filtering and self-energy recycling of the proposed scheme are effective in improving performance. It is also shown that the proposed scheme is useful even when only partial channel state information is available.

The packet error rate (PER) performance of multi-hop STBC based cooperative and diversity relaying systems are studied. These systems consist of a source, a destination, and two relay stations in each hop. From in-lab experiments, it is confirmed that the cooperative relaying system has better PER performance than the diversity relaying system with highly correlated channels.

In this letter, we adopt two multi-carrier relay selections, i.e., bulk and per-subcarrier (PS), to the multi-hop decode-and-forward relaying orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing with index modulation (OFDM-IM) system. Particularly, in the form of average outage probability (AOP), the influence of joint selection and non-joint selection acting on the last two hops on the system is analyzed. The closed-form expressions of AOPs and the asymptotic AOPs expressions at high signal-to-noise ratio are given and verified by numerical simulations. The results show that both bulk and PS can achieve full diversity order and that PS can provide additional power gain compared to bulk when JS is used. The theoretical analyses in this letter provide an insight into the combination of OFDM-IM and cooperative communication.

In millimeter wave (mmWave) vehicular communications, multi-hop relay disconnection by line-of-sight (LOS) blockage is a critical problem, particularly in the early diffusion phase of mmWave-available vehicles, where not all vehicles have mmWave communication devices. This paper proposes a distributed position control method to establish long relay paths through road side units (RSUs). This is realized by a scheme via which autonomous vehicles change their relative positions to communicate with each other via LOS paths. Even though vehicles with the proposed method do not use all the information of the environment and do not cooperate with each other, they can decide their action (e.g., lane change and overtaking) and form long relays only using information of their surroundings (e.g., surrounding vehicle positions). The decision-making problem is formulated as a Markov decision process such that autonomous vehicles can learn a practical movement strategy for making long relays by a reinforcement learning (RL) algorithm. This paper designs a learning algorithm based on a sophisticated deep reinforcement learning algorithm, asynchronous advantage actor-critic (A3C), which enables vehicles to learn a complex movement strategy quickly through its deep-neural-network architecture and multi-agent-learning mechanism. Once the strategy is well trained, vehicles can move independently to establish long relays and connect to the RSUs via the relays. Simulation results confirm that the proposed method can increase the relay length and coverage even if the traffic conditions and penetration ratio of mmWave communication devices in the learning and operation phases are different.

A novel adaptive cross-layer optimal power allocation (OPA) scheme over physical layer and data-link layer for two-way relaying system with amplify-and-forward policy (TWR-AF) is proposed in this paper. Our goal is to find the optimal power allocation factors under each channel state information (CSI) to maximize the sum throughput of two sources under total transmit power constraint in the physical layer while guaranteeing the statistical delay quality-of-service (QoS) requirement in the data-link layer. By integrating information theory with the concept of effective capacity, the OPA problem is formulated into an optimization problem to maximize the sum effective capacity. It is solved through Lagrange multiplier approach, and the optimal power allocation factors are presented. Simulations are developed and the results show that the proposed cross-layer OPA scheme can achieve the best sum effective capacity with relatively low complexity when compared with other schemes. In addition, the proposed cross-layer OPA scheme achieves the maximal sum effective capacity when the relay is located in (or near) the middle of the two source nodes, and the sum effective capacity becomes smaller when the difference between two QoS exponents becomes larger.

Denser infrastructures can reduce terminal-to-infrastructure distance and thus improve the link budget in mobile communication systems. One such infrastructure, relaying can reduce the distance between the donor evolved node B (eNB) and user equipment (UE). However, conventional relaying suffers from geographical constraints, i.e., installation site, and difficulty in simultaneous transmission and reception on the same carrier frequency. Therefore, we propose a new type of fiber-optic relaying in which the antenna facing the eNB is geographically separated from the antenna facing the UE, and the two antennas are connected by an optical fiber. This structure aims to extend coverage to heavily shadowed areas. Our primary objective is to establish a design method for the proposed fiber-optic relaying in the presence of self-interference, which is the interference between the backhaul and access links, when the backhaul and access links simultaneously operate on the same carrier frequency. In this paper, we present the performance of the fiber-optic relaying in the presence of intra- and inter-cell interferences as well as self-interference. The theoretical desired-to-undesired-signal ratio for both uplink and downlink is investigated as parameters of the optical fiber length. We demonstrate the possibility of fiber-optic relaying with simultaneous transmission and reception on the same carrier frequency for the backhaul and access links. We validate the design method for the proposed fiber-optic relay system using these results.

A high-rate coding scheme that polar codes are concatenated with low density generator matrix (LDGM) codes is proposed in this paper. The scheme, referred to as polar-LDGM (PLG) codes, can boost the convergence speed of polar codes and eliminate the error floor behavior of LDGM codes significantly, while retaining the low encoding and decoding complexity. With a sensibly designed Gaussian approximation (GA), we can accurately predict the theoretical performance of PLG codes. The numerical results show that PLG codes have the potential to approach the capacity limit and avoid error floors effectively. Moreover, the encoding complexity is lower than the existing LDPC coded system. This motives the application of powerful PLG codes to satellite communications in which message transmission must be extremely reliable. Therefore, an adaptive relaying protocol (ARP) based on PLG codes for the relay satellite system is proposed. In ARP, the relay transmission is selectively switched to match the channel conditions, which are determined by an error detector. If no errors are detected, the relay satellite in cooperation with the source satellite only needs to forward a portion of the decoded message to the destination satellite. It is proved that the proposed scheme can remarkably improve the error probability performance. Simulation results illustrate the advantages of the proposed scheme

In this paper, we analyze the impact of channel estimation errors in an amplify-and-forward (AF)-based two-way relaying network (TWRN) where adaptive modulation (AM) is employed in individual relaying path. In particular, the performance degradation caused by channel estimation error is investigated over Nakagami-m fading channels. We first derive an end-to-end signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), a cumulative distribution function, and a probability density function in the presence of channel estimation error for the AF-based TWRN with adaptive modulation (TWRN-AM). By utilizing the derived SNR statistics, we present accurate expressions of the average spectral efficiency and bit error rates with an outage-constraint in which transmission does not take place during outage events of bidirectional communications. Based on our derived analytical results, an optimal power allocation scheme for TWRN-AM is proposed to improve the average spectral efficiency by minimizing system outages.

In this paper, we consider full-duplex (FD) relay networks with filter-and-forward (FF)-based multiple relays (FD-FF), where relay filters jointly mitigate self-interference (SI), inter-relay interference (IRI), and inter-symbol interference. We consider the filter design problem based on signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio maximization subject to a total relay transmit power constraint. To make the problem tractable, we propose two methods: one that imposes an additional constraint whereby the filter responses to SI and IRI are nulled, and the other that makes i.i.d. assumptions on the relay transmit signals. Simulation results show that the proposed FD-FF scheme outperforms a conventional FF scheme in half-duplex mode. We also consider the filter design when only second-order statistics of channel path gains are available.

Both spatial diversity and multihop relaying are considered to be effective methods for mitigating the impact of atmospheric turbulence-induced fading on the performance of free-space optical (FSO) systems. Multihop relaying can significantly reduce the impact of fading by relaying the information over a number of shorter hops. However, it is not feasible or economical to deploy relays in many practical scenarios. Spatial diversity could substantially reduce the fading variance by introducing additional degrees of freedom in the spatial domain. Nevertheless, its superiority is diminished when the fading sub-channels are correlated. In this paper, our aim is to study the fundamental performance limits of spatial diversity suffering from correlated Gamma-Gamma (G-G) fading channels in multihop coherent FSO systems. For the performance analysis, we propose to approximate the sum of correlated G-G random variables (RVs) as a G-G RV, which is then verified by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (KS) goodness-of-fit statistical test. Performance metrics, including the outage probability and the ergodic capacity, are newly derived in closed-form expressions and thoroughly investigated. Monte-Carlo (M-C) simulations are also performed to validate the analytical results.

In this paper, we study simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) in two-way relay channels where two users exchange information with each other via a multi-antenna relay node. The signals forwarded by the relay node are also used to supply the power to two users. We formulate a max-min optimization problem aiming to maximize the minimum harvested energy between two users to achieve fairness. We jointly optimize the relay beamforming matrix and allocating powers at the two users subject to the quality of service (QoS) constraints. To be specific, we consider the amplify-and-forward (AF) relay strategy and the time splitting SWIPT strategy. To this end, we propose two different time splitting protocols to enable relay to supply power to two users. To solve the non-convex joint optimization problem, we propose to split the original optimization problem into two subproblems and solving them iteratively to obtain the final solution. It is shown that the first subproblem dealing with the beamforming matrix can be optimally solved by using the technique of relaxed semidefinite programming (SDR), and the second subproblem, which deals with the power allocation, can be solved via linear programming. The performance comparison of two schemes as well as the one-way relaying scheme are provided and the effectiveness of the proposed schemes is verified.

This letter presents two outage-optimal relaying schemes to improve the performance of a wireless energy harvesting system in cognitive radio networks. The performance of both schemes is then evaluated and compared by carrying out numerical simulations, and we also derive the analytic expression for the outage probability of the secondary system.

The smart grid is expected to be the next generation electricity grid. It is beneficial for communication systems to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. In this paper, we propose a distributed game theoretical framework for decode-and-forward (DF) cooperative relay networks with smart grid. A relay selection and power allocation strategy based on the buyer-seller game is proposed that processes the statistic channel-state information (CSI) available. The user is modeled as a buyer who selects the optimal relay and determines the optimal amount of power to be bought from the relay by the maximum utility criterion. The relay powered by the smart grid is modeled as a seller who determines the price of the power to achieve the maximum profit with its own cost. The equilibrium conditions of the game between the two sides are analyzed. The simulation results verify the existence of a Nash equilibrium point and illustrate that the proposed strategy may guarantee the utility of the source, the relay and the network and increase the energy efficiency.

This letter presents a successive partial interference cancellation (SPIC) scheme for full-duplex (FD) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) relaying system. The proposed scheme coordinates the cancellation for the self-interference and inter-stream interference. The objective for the coordination focuses on simultaneously minimizing the two interferences. Simulation results under the measured data show that the system with the proposed scheme can achieve a significant performance gain compared to the conventional FD and half-duplex (HD) systems.

In this paper, we introduce the new concept of temporal diversity utilization based on asymmetric transmission to minimize network interference in wireless ad-hoc networks with a two-hop half-duplex relaying (HDR) protocol. Asymmetric transmission is an interference-aware backoff technique, in which each communication session (source-relay-destination link) adaptively chooses a certain subset of spectrally-orthogonal data streaming which should be delayed by the duration of one time-slot (i.e., half of one subframe). We design the problem in the HDR scenario by applying the concept of asymmetric transmission, and evaluate the game-theoretical algorithm, called asymmetric transmission game (ATG), to derive the suboptimal solution. We show that ATG is an exact potential game, and derive its convergence and optimality properties. Furthermore, we develop an approximated version of ATG (termed A-ATG) in order to reduce signaling and computational complexity. Numerical results verify that two algorithms proposed show significant synergistic effects when collaborating with the conventional methods in terms of interference coordination. Ultimately, the energy consumption to satisfy the rate requirement is reduced by up to 17.4% compared to the conventional schemes alone.

The end-to-end packet error rate (PER) performance of a multi-hop cooperative relaying system is discussed in this paper. In this system, the end-to-end PER performance improves with the number of hops under certain conditions. The PER performance of multi-hop cooperative networks is analyzed with the state transition technique. The theoretical analysis reveals that the PER performance can be kept almost constant, or even improved, as the number of hops is increased. Computer simulation results agree closely with the analysis results. Moreover, to confirm this performance characteristic in an actual setup, an in-lab experiment using a fading emulator was conducted. The experimental results confirm the theoretical end-to-end PER performance of this system.