Training Power Allocation Based on MSE-Minimization for Multi-Relay Amplify-and-Forward Cooperation in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, a training scheme for multi-relay clustered wireless sensor networks is proposed for the destination cluster head node to estimate the individual source-relay and relay-destination channels. Compared with an existing training scheme, the proposed one has shown improved efficiency with reduced power and computation time in the training of the source relay channels. Furthermore, the training power allocation problem is analyzed. Based on minimizing the total mean-square-error (MSE) of all channel estimates, two approximate solutions for the power allocation among all network nodes and all training links are derived. The first solution is adaptive to the instantaneous relay-destination channel estimates, thus requires feedback from the destination during the training process. The other solution depends on channel variances only and has lower complexity in implementation. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed training scheme and power allocation solutions obtain lower total MSE and higher network throughput than existing schemes.