ABSTRACT
This chapter presents several implementation issues for orthogonal frequency-division multiple access-based multi-hop cellular networks which need inclusion of relay terminals. The first issue presented is synchronization. It is shown that synchronization is not problematic for infrastructure-based relaying, where the relays are deployed by a system operator at strategic positions in the cell. Another implementation issue that is presented is related to the hardware implementation aspects. The hardware resource usage analysis shows that cooperative diversity schemes which require coherent signal combining at the mobile station (MS) increase hardware resource usage and power/energy consumption at the MSs. Furthermore, the channel estimation errors at the MS result in an effective decrease in the postprocessing Signal to Interference & Noise Ratioachieved via coherent signal combining. The reliability of channel estimation at the MSs depends on the density and power of pilot tones and the algorithm used for channel estimation.
