IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, VOL. 14, NO.

3, MARCH 2010 229

A Nearly Optimal Amplify-and-Forward Relaying Scheme for

Two-Hop MIMO Multi-Relay Networks
Youhua Fu, Luxi Yang, Member, IEEE, and Wei-Ping Zhu, Senior Member, IEEE

Abstract—This letter proposes a nearly optimal amplify-and- In this letter, a nearly optimal AF distributed relaying
forward (AF) relaying scheme for two-hop and half-duplex scheme is presented to maximize the mutual information under
distributed relay networks with one source, one destination, a total relay power constraint. As in many other articles deal-
and multiple relays, each equipped with multiple antennas.
The system mutual information is first analyzed under the ing with MIMO relay network optimizations such as [5][6], the
assumption of known channel state information (CSI), revealing perfect CSI is considered available for optimum relay design.
that it is possible to maximize the information rate by designing The optimization can be performed in the destination, and then
properly the relay precoder as a block-diagonal matrix. Then, the processing results are fed back to the relays. It is shown
the maximum transmission rate issue is investigated under a total by Monte-Carlo simulations that the proposed scheme largely
relay power constraint, leading to an optimal relaying scheme
for moderate to high levels of total relay power. A simulation improves the spectral efficiency of the system when the relay
study is undertaken to show the effectiveness of the proposed transmitting power is moderate to high, for example, more
solution. than 16dB when the received noise correlation is normalized
Index Terms—Relay processing, amplify-and-forward, MIMO to unity, and the number of source/destination antennas is 2
relay networks, optimal power allocation. and the number of relay antennas is 3.

I. I NTRODUCTION II. S YSTEM M ODEL

OUPLING the multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) Consider a two-hop MIMO AF relay network where the
C technology with a wireless relay network can offer
significant improvement in spectral and power efficiencies
source and destination terminals, each equipped with N an-
tennas, are communicating through K relay terminals each
[1]. When the perfect channel state information (CSI) is with L transmit/receive antennas. It is assumed that the two-
available, an amplify-and-forward (AF) relaying processing hop communication without direct link between the source
can be conducted to improve the system performance largely. and destination is perfectly synchronized over two time slots
In particular, an upper bound on the capacity of the MIMO in half-duplex mode. Also, we assume frequency-flat block
relay network has been obtained in [1]. In [2][3], an optimal fading for all channels, and perfect CSI available at the relays
linear processing for a single relay has been presented to and the destination.
maximize the mutual information. In [4], some linear relaying The received signal at the k-th relay is given by
strategies are presented for multi-relay MIMO networks by r� = H� x + n� (1)
making use of local CSI. The authors of [5] have proposed
an optimal relaying scheme for MIMO relay networks by where H� denotes the L × N random channel vector, x is the
minimizing the relay power to achieve a minimum mean- N ×1 transmitted signal vector satisfying R� = �{xx� }, and
square error (MSE). In addition to the MSE minimization, the n� is an L × 1 additive Gaussian noise vector with covariance
criteria of maximizing the defined SNR and the transmission matrix R�� = �{n� n� � }. Accordingly, the signal received by
rate have also been employed to realize the optimal relay all the relays can be expressed using an LK-element vector as
processing in [6]. However, it should be mentioned that the r = Hx + n (2)
optimization problem of the transmission rate in [6] is solved
under a power constraint at the receiver. This solution is less where H = [H�1 , H�2 , . . . , H�� ]�
is the �� × � channel
practical since the power received at the destination mainly matrix between the source and the relays, and n is an
depends on the transmission power of the relays as well as �� × 1 additive Gaussian noise vector at the relays with
the second-hop random channels. In a MIMO relay system, it R� = �{nn� }. With the AF relaying principle, the signal
would be much more efficient to impose the power constraints transmitted by the k-th relay t� can be written as
on the relay side. t� = F� r� (3)
Manuscript received September 2, 2009. The associate editor coordinating where F� is the precoding matrix of the k-th relay. Thus, the
the review of this letter and approving it for publication was A. Banchs.
This work was supported by the Important National Science & Technology signal transmitted by all the relays can be written as,
Specific Project under Grant 2009ZX03003-004, the National Basic Research
Program of China under Grant 2007CB310603, the National Natural Science t = FHx + Fn (4)
Foundation of China under Grant 60672093, Grant 60902012, and the
National High Technology Project of China under Grant 2007AA01Z262. where the overall relay precoder F = ����(F1 , F2 , . . . , F� )
Y. Fu and L. Yang are with the School of Information Science and is block-diagonal since the relays are distributive in nature.
Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210096, P. R. China (e-
mail: youh.fu@gmail.com; lxyang@seu.edu.cn). Using (4), the received signal at the destination is given by
W.-P. Zhu is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engi-
neering, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1M8 (e- y = GFHx + GFn + z (5)
mail:weiping@ece.concordia.ca). His research is mainly supported by the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada. where G = [G1 , G2 , . . . , G� ] denotes the N × LK channel
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/LCOMM.2010.03.091779 matrix between the relays and the destination, and z is an
c 2010 IEEE
1089-7798/10$25.00 ⃝

Authorized licensd use limted to: IE Xplore. Downlade on May 13,20 at 1:548 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.
230 IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS, VOL. 14, NO. 3, MARCH 2010

N × 1 additive Gaussian noise vector at the destination with � ). Then, the mutual information in (10) reaches its maximum
R� = �{zz� }. and can be expressed as
�
1 ∏ � 2 �2
III. T HE O PTIMAL R ELAYING S CHEME UNDER T OTAL �= log2 (1 + 2� �� ) (11)
2 �=1
��� + 1
R ELAY P OWER C ONSTRAINT
where ��2 is the ith eigenvalue of ĤĤ� .
In this section, we would like to maximize the mutual
Without any constraint, the maximization of the system rate
information by designing the relay precoder F. From (5), the 2
in (11) will lead to a trivial solution of ��� being infinity. We
mutual information for this system can be written as [7]:
  now take the total relay power constraint into account. This
1 constraint can be written using the matrix trace as
log 2 I + GFHR� H� F� G� (GFR� F� G� + R� )−1 
 
�=
2 �
(6) ∑
Note that in the distributed relaying scenario, the relay pre- ��{tt� } = ��{F� (H� R� H� �
� + R�� )F� } = �� (12)
�=1
coding matrix F is block-diagonal, rather than a full-element
matrix. As such, the optimization problem becomes very where �� is the total transmitted power of all the relays. Using
−1/2 1/2
difficult because not all of the elements of F are free variables. W = R� GFR� U� along with the partitioned form of
For example, the SVD (singular value decomposition) based F, G and R� , and noting that F is block-diagonal, we can
linear transceiver proposed in [2] for single-relay systems is obtain F� ,
not applicable to our multiple-relay networks. In what follows, F� = (G� )+ R1/2 � −1/2
)� = (G� )+ R1/2
� (WU� R� � W̄Û�1,�
we will simplify the matrix-form problem (6) into an equiva- (13)
lent problem with respect to scalar optimization variables by where W = [W̄� ×� 0� ×(��−� )], and Û�1 =
exploiting some properties of the matrices involved and the −1/2
Hadamard inequality. U��1 R� with U� �1 being the upper N rows of U� . In
�

−1 1
−1 1 obtaining (13), we have already utilized the partitioned form
First, by defining F̂ ≜ R� 2 GFR�2 and Ĥ ≜ R� 2 HR�2 , of Û�1 , i.e., Û�1 ≜ (Û�1,1 )� ×� , . . . , (Û�1,� )� ×� .
[ ]
and noting that det(I + AB) = det(I + BA), we can rewrite Then, by substituting (13) into (12) and employing the fact
(6) as ��{AXBX� } = x� (A ∘ B� )x (∘ denotes the Hadamard
1   product), where A and B are square matrices and X is a
� = log2 I + ĤĤ� F̂� (F̂F̂� + I)−1 F̂ (7)
 
2 diagonal matrix, x = X1 (1 = [1, . . . , 1]� ) is a vector
composed of the diagonal elements of X, the relay power
which can be equivalently expressed as constraint can also be rewritten as a function of W̄ as follows,
1  ) 1� W̄� ΨW̄1 = w� Ψw = �� (14)
� = log2 I + ĤĤ� I − (I + F̂� F̂)−1 
(
(8)

2 �
where w ≜ W̄1 = [�11 , . . . , �� � ] and Ψ is given by
In obtaining (8), we have used the matrix equation A(I + � {
BA)−1 B = I − (I + AB)−1 . The SVD of Ĥ can be written [ �2 1]
∑ }
Ψ= R� (G+
� )�
(G+
� )R 2
� ∘ Ω � (15)
as
�=1
�
Ĥ = U� Λ� V� (9)
� �
with Ω� = Û�1,� (H� R� H�
[ ]
� + R�� )(�1,� ) .
where U� and V� are unitary matrices, and Λ� is diagonal Now, from (11) and (14), the proposed optimization prob-
whose nonzero elements �� , � = 1, 2, . . . , min(��, � ), are lem can be described as
the singular values arranged in decreasing order. Using (9) ��2 ���
2
� = 12 log2 �
∏
max��� �=1 (1 + ���2 +1 )
into (8), after some matrix manipulations, we can obtain ∑� ∑�
2
 �.�. �=1 ��� ��� + �,�=1 �∕=� ��� ��� ��� = ��
)
� = 12 log2 I + Λ2� I − (I + U� � −1  (16)
(
F̂ F̂U )

� � 
1
  (10) where {��� } are entries of Ψ. Note that although the constraint
= 2 log2 I + Λ2� I − (I + W� W)−1 
 ( )
in (16) is convex, the cost function is convex only if the
following condition is satisfied,
where W ≜ F̂U� is an � × �� matrix. Note that for √
a given W, we can obtain a solution of F from W = 2 −(��2 + 2) + (��2 + 2)2 + 12(��2 + 1)
��� ≥ (17)
−1/2 1/2
R� GFR� U� only if � ≥ � , due to the fact that the 6(��2 + 1)
number of unknowns is �2 � while the number of linear As such, the constrained optimization problem (16) is, in
equations is � ��. In the following analysis, we assume general, not convex and the existing convex optimization
� ≥ �. methods cannot be employed to solve it. Here, we present
From the Hadamard inequality [7], the determinant of a a simple method to achieve a nearly optimal solution to (16).
positive definite matrix is maximized if and only if the matrix From a mathematical fact that the geometric mean is smaller
is diagonal. Accordingly, as long as W� W is diagonal, the than or equal to the arithmetic mean, the rate in (11) satisfies
information rate in (10) is maximized. We now propose an idea the following inequality,
of constructing W to maximize (10), namely, we assume that �
W is a real matrix which has all zero elements except for its 1 ∏ � 2 �2 �
�= log2 (1 + 2� �� ) ≤ log2 (1 + �) (18)
main diagonal elements ��� , � = 1, 2, . . . , � (min(�, ��) = 2 �=1
� �� + 1 2

Authorized licensd use limted to: IE Xplore. Downlade on May 13,20 at 1:548 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.
FU et al.: A NEARLY OPTIMAL AMPLIFY-AND-FORWARD RELAYING SCHEME FOR TWO-HOP MIMO MULTI-RELAY NETWORKS 231

5.5 1

L=2, K=2
0.9
L=4, K=2
L=4, K=4
0.8
5

0.7

Empirical CDF
0.6
4.5
Capacity (bps/Hz)

0.5

0.4

4
0.3

0.2
Upper bound
3.5 MF 0.1
ZF
LMMSE 0
Exhaustive Search 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Proposed Mutual Information (bps/Hz)
3
10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
PR (dB) Fig. 2. CDF of mutual information for the proposed optimal AF scheme
with � = � = 2, �� = 20��.
Fig. 1. Ergodic information rates vs. �� , � = � = 2, � = 3, � = 3.
Also note that in the exhaustive search, we have set the
where the equality holds when range of ��� to ��� ≥ 0, whereas in the proposed scheme,
��� is deemed to be non-zero according to the arithmetic-
�12 �11
2
�22 �22
2 2
�� 2
�� �
�≜ 2 +1 = 2 +1 = ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ = 2 (19) geometric mean inequality as shown in (19). Therefore, the
�11 �22 �� � +1 exhaustive search is slightly better than the proposed scheme.
Note that the above result is based on a mild condition It is also clear from Fig.1 that when the relay power is high,
√ each of ��� ’s is 2 non-zero. From (19), we have ��� =
that our relaying scheme is far superior to the existing methods
�/(��2 − �), (� < �� ), � = 1, 2, . . . , � , which can then be and is very close to the capacity upper bound.
used into the total relay power constraint (14) to obtain the Fig.2 shows the empirical cumulative distribution functions
actual value of c, and in turn the final solution of ��� . Once the of the mutual information for our scheme with various relay
main diagonal of W is determined, the maximum information configurations. It is seen that for the same total relay power,
rate and the solution of the relay matrix F are readily obtained. the achievable rate increases with the increase of the number
It should be mentioned that the above-obtained solution is K of the relays and the number L of the antennas at each relay.
globally optimal as long as it satisfies (17) due to the fact that
the optimization problem (16) is convex in this case. However, V. C ONCLUSION
when �� is small, (17) might be violated and then the solution In this letter, a new AF relaying scheme has been developed
may no longer be optimal. This phenomenon will be observed under a total relay power constraint with the objective of maxi-
in the simulation study. mizing the information rate of two-hop MIMO communication
networks. Since the constrained optimization problem is in
IV. S IMULATION R ESULTS general not convex, it has been solved by using the arithmetic-
Some Monte-Carlo simulation results are presented to geometric mean inequality, leading to a nearly optimal relay-
demonstrate the performance of the proposed optimal relaying ing solution. Owing to the cooperative allocation of the total
scheme. Without loss of generality, we assume that all the ran- relay power, the proposed relaying scheme has a much better
dom channel matrices are independent identically distributed spectral efficiency than some of the existing methods when the
(i.i.d.), whose elements are zero-mean complex Gaussian relay power is moderate to high as confirmed by Monte-Carlo
random variables with unit variance. We also assume that the simulations.
signal covariance is given by R� = ��� I� with �� = 10��,
and the noise at the relays and that at the destination are R EFERENCES
characterized by n ∼ �� (0, I�� ) and z ∼ �� (0, I� ), [1] H. Bolcskei, R. U. Nabar, O. Oyman, and A. J. Paulraj, “Capacity
respectively. scaling laws in MIMO relay networks,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun.,
In Fig.1, we compare the information rate of our scheme as pp. 1433-1444, June 2006.
[2] X. Tang and Y. Hua, “Optimal design of non-regenerative MIMO wireless
a function of the relay transmission power �� , with those of relays,” IEEE Trans. Wireless Commun., pp. 1398-1407, Apr. 2007.
the matched filter (MF), zero forcing (ZF) and minimum mean [3] O. Munoz-Medina, J. Vidal, and A. Agustin, “Linear transceiver design
square error (MMSE) schemes in [4] with local CSI as well in nonregenerative relays with channel state information,” IEEE Trans.
Signal Process., pp. 2593-2604, June 2007.
as the upper bounded capacity in [1]. An exhaustive search is [4] O. Oyman and A. J. Paulraj, “Design and analysis of linear distributed
also performed by finding the maximum information rate in MIMO relaying algorithms,” in IEE Proc. Inst. Elect. Eng., Commun.,
(11) over all candidates satisfying the constraint in (14). For pp. 565-572, Aug. 2006.
[5] W. Guan, H. Luo, and W. Chen, “Linear relaying scheme for MIMO
each channel realization, we have assumed that the same total relay system with QoS requirements,” IEEE Trans. Signal Process. Lett.,
relay power is used in these schemes. Obviously, our scheme pp. 697-700, July 2008.
outperforms the other existing methods when �� ≥ 16�� [6] A. S. Behbahani, R. Merched, and A. M. Eltawil, “Optimizations of
a MIMO relay network,” IEEE Trans. Signal Process., pp. 5062-5073,
except for the exhaustive search. As mentioned earlier, since Oct. 2008.
this optimization is conditionally convex, the performance of [7] T. M. Cover and J. A. Thomas, Elements of Information Theory. New
our method is inferior to other methods when �� ≤ 16��. York: Wiley, 1991.

Authorized licensd use limted to: IE Xplore. Downlade on May 13,20 at 1:548 UTC from IE Xplore. Restricon aply.