Abstract

In this thesis, we propose to improve the performance and coverage of impulse-radio ultra-wideband (IR-UWB) systems by means of cooperative

multi-hop relaying. With regard to a simple practical realization, we focus on a non-coherent system setup in conjunction with amplify-and-forward

(A&F) relaying. In particular, we propose to employ a multiple-differential encoding scheme at the source node and single differential decoding at each

relay and at the destination node, respectively, so as to efficiently limit intersymbol-interference (ISI) effects at the destination node. A thorough

performance analysis of the proposed scheme is provided, along with closed-form optimization of the transmit power allocation to the source node

and the relays. Simulation results illustrate the excellent performance of the proposed scheme, which is also compared to alternative coherent and noncoherent

multi-hop IR-UWB schemes based on A&F relaying and decode-and-forward (D&F) relaying.