Abstract: Systems, methods, architectures, mechanisms and apparatus for relay beamforming of mmWave communications in an environment having signal blockage and signal attenuation challenges, such as found in an urban setting support distributed, relay-assisted beamforming mechanisms that exploit the spatial diversity of mmWave signal propagation, including a resource efficient relay selection scheme designed to optimally enhance QoS in 2-hop Amplify-and-Forward (AF) cooperative networks. Relay selection is implemented in a predictive and distributed manner.

Abstract: Various embodiments comprise systems, methods, architectures, mechanisms and apparatus for relay beamforming of mmWave communications in an environment having signal blockage and signal attenuation challenges, such as found in an urban setting. The various embodiments support distributed, relay-assisted beamforming mechanisms that exploit the spatial diversity of mmWave signal propagation, including a resource efficient relay selection scheme designed to optimally enhance QoS in 2-hop Amplify-and-Forward (AF) cooperative networks. Relay selection is implemented in a predictive and distributed manner, with some embodiments also employing predictive schemes to optimally select transmitting relays.