Performance analysis of beamforming in two hop amplify and forward relay networks with antenna correlation

The performance of beamforming with antenna correlation in a two hop amplify and forward (AF) multiple input multiple-output (MIMO) relay network is analyzed. This network consists of a single relay which is used to amplify and forward the signal from the source to the destination. The source and destination are both equipped with multiple antennas, which are correlated in space, while the relay has a single antenna. In this paper, we derive new closed form expressions for the outage probability and probability density function of the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the destination. We also present exact symbol error rate expressions for the two hop AF MIMO relay network, and show that the full spatial diversity order can be achieved. Our results also indicate that spatial correlation is detrimental to the outage probability and symbol error rate at high SNR, and beneficial at low SNR.