This thesis work aims at analysing the performance of efficient cooperative techniques and of smart antenna aided solutions in the context of wireless networks. Particularly, original contributions include a performance analysis of distributed coding techniques for the physical layer of communication systems, the design of practical efficient coding schemes that approach the analytic limiting bound, the cross-layer design of cooperative medium access control systems that incorporate and benefit from advanced physical layer techniques, the study of the performance of such solutions under realistic network assumptions, and, finally the design of access protocols where nodes are equipped with smart antenna systems.
