Cooperation for transmission scheduling in wireless networks

We study the use of node cooperation as a way to improve performance in multiple-source, single-destination wireless networks that use scheduled access as the channel-access method. Unlike many other studies of scheduled access, which are based on the use of a collision channel, we use a physical channel model that incorporates other-user interference, fading, and background noise. The characteristics of such channels are exploited to enable the successful reception of multiple packets simultaneously. Our primary performance measure is throughput, which is the average number of packets that are successfully received by the destination per time slot. First, we study the performance of transmission schedules, which depends on channel fading, receiver noise, and interference. We then show that a cooperative strategy, based on the introduction of a relay to assist unsuccessful source nodes, can improve the throughput.