Decode-and-Forward for the Gaussian Relay Channel via Standard AWGN Coding and Decoding

This work considers practical implementation of the decode-and-forward relaying protocol for the full-duplex Gaussian relay channel. Unlike previous works which developed coding techniques tailored to this protocol, it is shown that standard codes which are good for the Gaussian scalar channel of fixed signal-to-noise ratio suffice to approach the theoretical performance promised by this protocol. The proposed technique employs only linear operations and successive interference cancelation in conjunction with fixed signal-to-noise ratio base codes, and the achievable rate is solely dictated by the performance of these base codes. The same approach and results carry over to the multiple-antenna case as well.