Performance Study of Various Relay Nodes in 5G Wireless Network

TL;DR

This study compares the performance of various relay node types in 5G networks, analyzing their effective SINRs and achievable rates through simulations and OTA tests to inform optimal relay deployment.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive performance analysis of multiple relay node architectures in 5G, including new insights into their tradeoffs and real-world validation.

Findings

Smart amplify-forward relays improve signal quality.

Full-duplex relays offer higher throughput but increased complexity.

OTA tests confirm simulation results.

Abstract

This paper studies performance of various types of relay nodes in a 5G wireless network: conventional amplify-forward repeaters, (semi-)smart/smart amplify-forward repeaters with different levels of side information, and half-duplex/full-duplex decode-forward relay nodes with and without spatial reuse. End-to-end effective signal to interference and noise ratios (SINRs) and achievable rates are derived for these different types of relay nodes. Performance and complexity tradeoffs are discussed with a simulation over a Manhattan topology setting. Over-the-air (OTA) test results corroborates the findings in this paper.