Outage Probability Analysis of Multi-relay Cooperative Decode-and-Forward System Over Generalized η–μ and κ–μ Fading Channels

Abstract

Cooperative communication has occurred to be a promising technology for future wireless networks. Characterizing its performance, in terms of symbol error rate, outage probability, data rate, etc. over the generalized fading channels are essential to wholly attain its benefits. In this paper, the closed form expressions for the outage probability of the multi-relay cooperative communication using decode-and-forward protocol over generalized fading channels ( $$\eta-\mu$$ and $$\kappa-\mu$$ ) has been derived in terms of gamma function. Firstly, the outage probability for generalized $$\eta-\mu$$ and $$\kappa-\mu$$ fading channels are computed, followed by the outage probability expression for the overall system. The final expressions are in the form of infinite series which converges very rapidly and hence it is accurately approximated by considering finite number of terms in summation. Analytical results are plotted to demonstrate the the impact of various channel parameters. It is also shown that how the outage performance improves with the number of relays. The obtained outage probability expressions for generalized fading environment can be readily extended for any generalized system model.