An Analytic Model for the Optimal Number of Relay Stations in Two-Hop Relay Networks

The RS(Relay Station) has become an important radio resource in next generation wireless communication systems. The optimal number of RSs is one of the crucial issues in configuring a cost-effective RS-based network architecture. In this letter, we present an analytic model to describe the impact of the number of RSs on the channel capacity of two-hop relay network. From the mathematical analysis, the optimal number of RSs is obtained to satisfy QoS requirements of users considering various levels of MCS(Modulation and Coding Scheme). In addition to the mathematical analysis to determine the feasibility of the analytic model, we also examine its performance through a set of simulations. The simulation results show the validity of the proposed analytic model.