Full-Duplex NOMA Transmission with Single-Antenna Buffer-Aided Relays

Abstract

The efficient deployment of fifth generation and beyond networks relies upon the seamless combination of recently introduced transmission techniques. Furthermore, as multiple network nodes exist in dense wireless topologies, low-complexity implementation should be promoted. In this work, several wireless communication techniques are considered for improving the sum-rate performance of cooperative relaying non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) networks. For this purpose, an opportunistic relay selection algorithm is developed, employing single-antenna relays to achieve full-duplex operation by adopting the successive relaying technique. In addition, as relays are equipped with buffers, flexible half-duplex transmission can be performed when packets reside in the buffers. The proposed buffer-aided and successive single-antenna (BASSA-NOMA) algorithm is presented in detail and its operation and practical implementation aspects are thoroughly analyzed. Comparisons with other relevant algorithms illustrate significant performance gains when BASSA-NOMA is employed without incurring high implementation complexity.