  In scenarios where devices are too small to support MIMO antenna arrays,
symbol-level cooperation may be used to pool the resources of distributed
single-antenna devices to create a virtual MIMO antenna array. We address
design fundamentals for distributed cooperative protocols where relays have an
incomplete view of network information. A key issue in distributed networks is
potential loss in spatial reuse due to the increased radio footprint of flows
with cooperative relays. Hence, local gains from cooperation have to balance
against network level losses. By using a novel binary network model that
simplifies the space over which cooperative protocols must be designed, we
develop a mechanism for the systematic and computational development of
cooperative protocols as functions of the amount of network state information
available at relay nodes. Through extensive network analysis and simulations,
we demonstrate the successful application of this method to a series of
protocols that span a range of network information availability at cooperative
relays.
