Error Rate Analysis of DF Cooperative Network Based on Distributed STBCs Employing Antenna Switching Technique

This letter presents a comprehensive analytical framework for average pairwise error probability (PEP) of decode-and-forward cooperative network based on various distributed space-time block codes (DSTBCs) with antenna switching (DDF-AS) technique over quasi-static Rayleigh fading channels. Utilizing the analytical framework, exact and asymptotic PEP expressions can be effectively formulated, which are based on the Lauricella multiplicative hypergeometric function, when various DSTBCs are adopted for the DDF-AS system. The derived asymptotic PEP formulas and some numerical results enable us to verify that the DDF-AS scheme outperforms the conventional cooperative schemes in terms of error rate performance. Furthermore, the asymptotic PEP formulas can also provide explicit and useful insights into the full diversity transmission achieved by the DDF-AS system.