Cooperative communications constitute a new access scheme that tends to substitute traditionalcontention schemes for accessing the medium. The idea is to exploit the broadcast nature ofwireless networks through retransmission of overheard information towards the destination,aiming at better performance as a result of spatial diversity. Initial research results arevery promising, but are solely based on information theoretic models and simulations. Thesemodels involve simplifying assumptions and raise concerns as for the efficiency of thescheme in a real environment.In this project we plan to implement representative cooperative scenarios and study theirperformance in real-life wireless testbeds. The experiments will take place in already existingwireless testbeds of the partners. These will be federated under a common management framework and a special component of this framework will be developed to support experimentation in cooperative communications.The institutes participating in CoopLab exhibit a high level of experience in at least oneof the two diverse scientific disciplines required to carry out the project successfully, theoryof cooperative communications and wireless testbed implementation and management. Their expertise is proven by participation in relevant international research projects and numerous publications.The planned exchanges of researchers will enable transfer of know-how among them.The success of CoopLab will have a two-fold effect. It will advance the state-of-the-art inthe field of cooperative communications through proof-of-concept real world experiments and itwill establish a long-term sustainable collaboration of the partners through the federation oftestbeds and exchange of knowledge.