are proposed in DF two-way relay networks. It also analyzes
the bit error rate (BER) and proves that the proposed
scheme can achieve full diversity order. In addition, the
combination of relay selection and space-time coding has
also been carried out [12, 13]. For example, in [13], a
scheme coined opportunistic space-time coding to combat
the outdated CSI is proposed, and the closed-form expr es-
sions of outage probability and ergodic capacity are derived.
Log-likelihood ratio (LLR) is a widely used function
since it is easy to manipulate, and it has been applied in
many scenarios [14, 15]. A strategy to approximate the
LLR values under higher-order constellations is proposed,
which greatly reduces the complexity compared to the
Max-Log-MAP soft-demapper [14]. In [15], the LLR selec-
tion is used in successive-cancelation (SC) decoding of
polar codes to reduce higher implementation complexity.
Some works on selection strategies based on LLR have
been carried out [16–20]. In [16, 17], the selection scheme
based on LLR has been proved to be better than the
scheme based on SNR in symbol error rate (SER) per-
formance for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) sys-
tem. Due to the similarity between MIMO system and
relay system, the LLR scheme is considered in the relay se-
lection system [18–20]. The authors of [18]investigate
two types of relay selection schemes, i.e., SNR-based relay
selection and LLR-based relay selection. Meanwhile, the
closed-form average BER for binary phase-shift keying
(BPSK) signals in Nakagami-m fading channels is derived.
However, it is investigated in one-way relay system. In
[19], a new LLR algorithm using DF protocol in two-way
networks is proposed and the BER of proposed scheme is
investigated over Rayleigh fading channels.
Since the LLR criterion can bring performance improve-
ment to the relay selection system, we combine it with
precoding and space-time block codes (STBC) technology
to improve the performance through obtaining spatial di-
versity. Here after, we call the combined technique “preco-
ding-plus-STBC.” Unlike most of the work based on LLR
just from the source to the relay, we focus on the total
LLR of received signal from the source to the destination.
And the precoding matrices at both the source and relay
nodes are designed with different CSI. Meanwhile, AF
protocol is considered due to the simplicity. Due to the
fact that the direct link often does not exist in the real
communication environment, we consider that there is no
direct link, which is different from [7]. As far as we know,
the LLR scheme with precoding-plus-STBC has not been
discussed in multi-relay systems.
The contributions of this paper are as follows:
We consider the STBC combined the precoding at
both the source and relay nodes, and derive the
precoding matrices with perfect CSI and imperfect
CSI. Different from other papers, we decompose the
joint design problems into two steps to reduce the
complexity: the first step is to determine the optimal
direction, and the second step is to determine the
optimal distribution of power in these directions.
To improve the SER performan ce, we apply the
log-likelihood ratio criterion to the relay selection
system with precoding-plus-STBC. The superiority
of the LLR is explored, and the criterion of relay
selection based on LLR is derived. Compared with
the traditional selection scheme based on SNR, the
scheme based on LLR obtains the better SER
performance.
The SER of relay selection system based on LLR is
derived. It is proved that the SER is minimized
compared with the SNR scheme, which is consistent
with the following simulation results.
The rest of this paper is organized as follows. In
Section 2, we introduce the wireless system model. In
Section 3, we design the precoding matrices with perfect
CSI and imperfect CSI. Section 4 proposes the relay se-
lection scheme based on LLR and analyzes the SER per-
formance of the relay selection system. Experimental is
presented in Section 5. Results and discussion are shown
in Section 6, and Section 7 draws the conclusions.
2 System model
We consider a two-hop multiple-input multiple-output
(MIMO) cooperative system with relay selection as shown
in Fig. 1, which is composed of a single source node, a sin-
gle destination node, and a set of I relay nodes. Each node
is equipped with N
S
, N
D
,andN
R, i
(i =1,2,…,I) antennas
respectively. The STBC technique is used at the source
and relay nodes to achieve diversity gain.
The signal transmission can be divided into two
phases. In the f irst phase, the source node sends t he
data to all relays. In the second phase, the selected
relay with the best log-likelihood ratio sends the sym-
bols to the destination node. At first, the transmitted
signals s =[s
1
, ⋯, s
L
] are mapped to a STBC matrix
G
1
ðsÞ∈C
N
S
T
, and the source employs the code word
G
1
(s), where N
S
is the space dimension and T is the
time dimension. Without loss of g enerality, we as-
sume the average energy of the signal constellation is
equal to 1, i.e., E[| s
l
|
2
]=1,l ∈ {1, ⋯, L}. The re ceived
signal at the ith relay is given by
Y
R;i
¼ H
1;i
V
1
G
1
sðÞþN
1;i
ð1Þ
where H
1;i
∈C
N
R;i
N
S
is the MIMO channel between the
source and the ith relay, V
1
∈C
N
S
N
S
is the source pre-
coding matrix, and N
1, i
is a sample matrix of the addi-
tive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) with mean zero and
variance
~
σ
2
1
.
Zhang and Li EURASIP Journal on Wireless Communications and Networking (2018) 2018:248 Page 2 of 10