This paper assesses the performances of a downlink cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (C-NOMA) network over Nakagami-m fading channels. The analytical outage probability expression for each user is derived and verified by Monte Carlo simulations. Based upon the outage probability, the maximal throughputs are obtained and analyzed under different channel conditions. Furthermore, the effects of channel fading on the probability and throughput are investigated. The results indicate that the performance of the C-NOMA system is excellent over the source-relay link with less fading. This analysis can be used for designing the C-NOMA systems in the future fifth-generation wireless communication.
