Network coded modulation for two-way relaying

Network coding compresses multiple traffic flows with the aid low-complexity algebraic operations, hence holds the potential of significantly improving both the power and bandwidth efficiency of wireless networks. In this contribution, the novel concept of Network Coded Modulation (NCM) is proposed for jointly performing network coding and modulation in bi-directional/duplex relaying. Each receiver is colocated with a transmitter and hence has prior knowledge of the message intended for the distant receiver. As in classic coded modulation, the Euclidian distance between the symbols is maximized, hence the Symbol Error Ratio (SER) is minimized. Specifically, we conceive NCM methods for PSK, PAM and QAM based on modulo addition of the normalized phase or amplitude. Furthermore, we propose low complexity decoding algorithms based on the corresponding conditional minimum distance criteria. Our performance analysis and simulations demonstrate that NCM relying on PSK is capable of achieving a SER at both receivers of the NCM scheme as if the relay transmitted exclusively to a single receiver only. By contrast, when our NCM concept is combined with PAM/QAM, an SNR loss (<1.25dB) is imposed at one of the receivers, usually at the one having a lower data rate in a realistic different rate scenario. Finally, we will demonstrate that the proposed NCM is compatible with existing physical layer designs

Maximum Euclidean distance network coded modulation for asymmetric decode-and-forward two-way relaying

Network coding (NC) compresses two traffic flows with the aid of low-complexity algebraic operations, hence holds the potential of significantly improving both the efficiency of wireless two-way relaying, where each receiver is collocated with a transmitter and hence has prior knowledge of the message intended for the distant receiver. In this contribution, network coded modulation (NCM) is proposed for jointly performing NC and modulation. As in classic coded modulation, the Euclidean distance between the symbols is maximised, hence the symbol error probability is minimised. Specifically, the authors first propose set-partitioning-based NCM as an universal concept which can be combined with arbitrary constellations. Then the authors conceive practical phase-shift keying/quadrature amplitude modulation (PSK/QAM) NCM schemes, referred to as network coded PSK/QAM, based on modulo addition of the normalised phase/amplitude. To achieve a spatial diversity gain at a low complexity, a NC oriented maximum ratio combining scheme is proposed for combining the network coded signal and the original signal of the source. An adaptive NCM is also proposed to maximise the throughput while guaranteeing a target bit error probability (BEP). Both theoretical performance analysis and simulations demonstrate that the proposed NCM can achieve at least 3 dB signal-to-noise ratio gain and two times diversity gain

Wireless Network-Coded Three-Way Relaying Using Latin Cubes

The design of modulation schemes for the physical layer network-coded three-way wireless relaying scenario is considered. The protocol employs two phases: Multiple Access (MA) phase and Broadcast (BC) phase with each phase utilizing one channel use. For the two-way relaying scenario, it was observed by Koike-Akino et al. \cite{KPT}, that adaptively changing the network coding map used at the relay according to the channel conditions greatly reduces the impact of multiple access interference which occurs at the relay during the MA phase and all these network coding maps should satisfy a requirement called \textit{exclusive law}. This paper does the equivalent for the three-way relaying scenario. We show that when the three users transmit points from the same 4-PSK constellation, every such network coding map that satisfies the exclusive law can be represented by a Latin Cube of Second Order. The network code map used by the relay for the BC phase is explicitly obtained and is aimed at reducing the effect of interference at the MA stage.Comment: 13 Pages, 16 Figures. Some mistakes in the previous version have been fixe

Trellis- and network-coded modulation for decode-and-forward two-way relaying over time-varying channels

We present a bandwidth-efficient joint channel coding-modulation scheme conceived for the broadcast channel (BC) of Decode-and-forward Two-way Relaying (DF-TWR), where Trellis-coded modulation (TCM) is intrinsically amalgamated with network-coded modulation (NCM) for achieving both a channel coding gain and a high throughput. We conceive a low-complexity receiver algorithm for our joint Trellis- and Network-coded modulation (TC-NCM) scheme, which applies decoding and demodulation simultaneously, without the need to first demodulate the signal before decoding, as in the traditional solutions. As a further contribution, the TC-NCM scheme is intrinsically amalgamated with adaptive transceiver techniques. We then further investigate the performance of our near-instantaneously adaptive discrete-rate TC-NC-QAM/PSK scheme. Both simulation results and numerical analysis are presented, which are compared to the performance of traditional NCM schemes. The results show that our scheme not only increases the achievable transmission rate, but also improves the reliability, yet it is of modest complexity

Constellation Mapping for Physical-Layer Network Coding with M-QAM Modulation

The denoise-and-forward (DNF) method of physical-layer network coding (PNC) is a promising approach for wireless relaying networks. In this paper, we consider DNF-based PNC with M-ary quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) and propose a mapping scheme that maps the superposed M-QAM signal to coded symbols. The mapping scheme supports both square and non-square M-QAM modulations, with various original constellation mappings (e.g. binary-coded or Gray-coded). Subsequently, we evaluate the symbol error rate and bit error rate (BER) of M-QAM modulated PNC that uses the proposed mapping scheme. Afterwards, as an application, a rate adaptation scheme for the DNF method of PNC is proposed. Simulation results show that the rate-adaptive PNC is advantageous in various scenarios.Comment: Final version at IEEE GLOBECOM 201

Resource-efficient wireless relaying protocols

Relay-aided communication is considered one of the key techniques to achieve high throughput at low cost in future wireless systems. However, when transmitting signals via a relay, additional time slots, antennas, or frequency slots are required, which may erode the potential gain of relay-aided systems. In this article various approaches to creating relay-aided systems are reviewed. The advantages and disadvantages of various relaying schemes are compared in terms of their slot efficiency, error rate performance, and feasibility. Our detailed comparisons and the numerical results indicate that the specific family of network coding aided relaying protocols constitutes one of the most promising solutions. We conclude this article by listing a number of open problems

Pairwise Check Decoding for LDPC Coded Two-Way Relay Block Fading Channels

Partial decoding has the potential to achieve a larger capacity region than full decoding in two-way relay (TWR) channels. Existing partial decoding realizations are however designed for Gaussian channels and with a static physical layer network coding (PLNC). In this paper, we propose a new solution for joint network coding and channel decoding at the relay, called pairwise check decoding (PCD), for low-density parity-check (LDPC) coded TWR system over block fading channels. The main idea is to form a check relationship table (check-relation-tab) for the superimposed LDPC coded packet pair in the multiple access (MA) phase in conjunction with an adaptive PLNC mapping in the broadcast (BC) phase. Using PCD, we then present a partial decoding method, two-stage closest-neighbor clustering with PCD (TS-CNC-PCD), with the aim of minimizing the worst pairwise error probability. Moreover, we propose the minimum correlation optimization (MCO) for selecting the better check-relation-tabs. Simulation results confirm that the proposed TS-CNC-PCD offers a sizable gain over the conventional XOR with belief propagation (BP) in fading channels.Comment: to appear in IEEE Trans. on Communications, 201