Exact expressions for the bit error rate and channel capacity of a dual-hop cooperative communication systems over Nakagami-m fading channels

Cooperative diversity has been widely used in wireless communication systems since they greatly improves and enhances the quality of service as being virtual antennas without physically placing multiple antennas at the transmitter or the receiver sides. In this paper, we consider the amplify and forward (AF) relay-based communication systems under the influence of Nakagami-m multipath fading channels in both channel links. Several performance metrics are considered in this study, including, the bit error rate (BER), the ergodic channel capacity, and the outage capacity. The obtained expressions are in closed-form and can reduce to the Rayleigh channel model, as a special case. Numerical results are also provided for the obtained expressions and some conclusions are drawn.