Design and Optimization for Distributed Compress-and-Forward System based on Multi-Relay Network

Abstract

A novel distributed compress-and-forward (CF) system based on multi-relay network is presented. In this system, as the direct link between the source and destination is invalid due to some reasons, such as the limited power, special working environment, or even economic factors, relays are employed to receive analog signals and carry on distributed compressed encoding. Subsequently, the digital signals are transmitted to the destination via wireless channel. Moreover, a theoretical analysis for the system is provided by utilizing the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) theory and Shannon channel capacity theory, and the rate-distortion function as well as the connection between the transmission rate and the channel capacity are constructed. In addition, an optimal signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)-based power allocation method is proposed to maximize the quantization SNR under the limited total power. Simulation result shows that the proposed CF system outperforms the amplify-and-forward (AF) system versus the SNR performance.