Outage probability of a hybrid AF-DF protocol for two-way underlay cognitive cooperative radio networks

In this paper, we study a hybrid amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) scheme for two-way cognitive cooperative radio networks (CCRNs). The proposed scheme applies the AF scheme when the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the relay is below a predefined threshold such that the relay cannot successfully decode the signal. On the other hand, when the SINR at the relay is greater than the predefined threshold, it decodes the signal and then forwards it to the destination, i.e. avoids noise and interference amplification at the relay. An analytical expression of the outage probability of the hybrid AF-DF two-way CCRN is derived based on the probability density function and cumulative distribution function of the SINR in AF and DF mode. Numerical results are provided to illustrate the influence of network parameters such as transmit power, interference power constraint of the primary network, fading conditions, and link distances on the outage probability. Finally, the numerical results show that the hybrid strategy is able to improve system performance significantly compared to conventional AF or DF relaying.