Two-group decodable distributed differential space-time code for wireless relay networks based on SAST codes

Space-time code can be implemented in wireless relay networks when all relays cooperate to generate the code at the receiver. In this case, it is called distributed space-time code. If the channel response changes very quickly, the idea of differential space-time coding is needed to overcome the difficulty of updating the channel state information at the receiver. As a result, the transmitted signal can be demodulated without any knowledge of the channel state information at the relays or the receiver. In this paper, development of new low decoding complexity distributed differential space-time codes is considered. The developed codes are designed using semiorthogonal algebraic space-time codes. They work for networks with an even number of relays and have a two-group decodable maximum likelihood receiver. The performance of the new codes is analyzed via MATLAB simulation which demonstrates that they outperform both cyclic codes and circulant codes.