Lending a Hand: Enhancing the Performance of Wireless Communication Networks Through Cooperation

Abstract

Cooperative networking is considered one of the main enablers for achieving enhanced data rates in wireless communications. This is due to the fact that through cooperation the adverse effects of fading can be alleviated significantly. Thus, more reliable communication systems deployments can be devised, and performance enhancements can be achieved. In this chapter, the authors discuss the main aspects of cooperative networking starting from the main historical milestones that shaped the idea. Then they focus on the main mechanisms and techniques that foster cooperation and continue by studying performance metrics for various possible deployments, such as capacity bounds and outage probabilities. Finally, the authors take a more practical viewpoint and discuss aspects related to medium access control design and implementation that can serve as a stepping stone for the widespread deployment of cooperative networking.