ABSTRACT

In traditional cellular networks,mobile stations (MSs) communicate via direct connectionswith base stations (BSs). With the technology advances and the proposed solutions for distributed communications in ad hoc networks, significant performance gains can be achieved by enabling cooperation among MSs in cellular networks. One form of cooperation is to allow MSs to communicate with BSs using other stations as relays. In this chapter, a detailed overview is presented on various aspects related to the design of relaying in multihop cellular networks with emphasis on the type of relays whether fixed or mobile. Moreover, various enhancement techniques at the relay level are proposed to improve the overall network performance. Selected design aspects and enhancement

techniques are then analyzed based on Monte-Carlo simulations for typical scenarios. Finally, useful insights and open research issues are identified and discussed.