Performance analysis of SCMA ad hoc networks: A stochastic geometry approach

Sparse code multiple access (SCMA) has been recently proposed for the future wireless networks, which allows non-orthogonal spectrum resource sharing and enables system overloading. In this paper, we apply SCMA into device-to-device (D2D) communication and cellular hybrid network, targeting at using the overload feature of SCMA to support massive device connectivity and expand network capacity. Particularly, we develop a stochastic geometry based framework to model and analyze SCMA, considering underlaid and overlaid mode. Based on the results, we analytically compare SCMA with orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) using area spectral efficiency (ASE) and quantify closed-form ASE gain of SCMA over OFDMA. Notably, it is shown that system ASE can be significantly improved using SCMA and the ASE gain scales linearly with the SCMA codeword dimension. Besides, we endow D2D users with an activated probability to balance cross-tier interference in the underlaid mode and derive the optimal activated probability. Meanwhile, we study resource allocation in the overlaid mode and obtain the optimal codebook allocation rule. It is interestingly found that the optimal SCMA codebook allocation rule is independent of cellular network parameters when cellular users are densely deployed. The results are helpful in the implementation of SCMA in the hybrid system.

In this paper, we apply access class barring (ACB) scheme and sparse code multiple access (SCMA) technique to massive machine type communication devices (MTCDs) communications, and propose a resource allocation scheme to increase the number of successful accesses. The proposed scheme employs ACB to control the number of massive random access (RA) attempts during preamble transmission in physical random access channel (PRACH), then allocates SCMA codebook resource in physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) to those MTCDs with successful preamble transmission for data transmission. We formulate a joint PRACH and PUSCH resource allocation optimization problem. Finally, we propose a detailed algorithm to solve the optimization problem and optimize the length of SCMA codeword to maximize the number of successful accesses. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can increase the number of successful accesses even in the overload scenario.

In this letter, we investigate the fundamental tradeoff between rate and energy for sparse code multiple access (SCMA) networks with wireless power transfer. A weighted rate and energy maximization problem by jointly considering power allocation, codebook assignment, and power splitting, is formulated. To solve the hard problem, an iterative algorithm based on the univariate search technique is proposed, which has good performance with low complexity. Specifically, we analyze the special structure of the problem and exploit it to obtain the optimal power splitting ratio and resource allocation strategy when one of them is fixed. Simulation results indicate that our algorithm achieves a better rate-energy tradeoff compared to other schemes.

To improve the spectrum efficiency (SE), sparse code multiple access (SCMA) has been proposed as an candidate for 5G wireless networks. Although SCMA has good SE performance, it suffers from high detection complexity, which may degrade its energy efficiency (EE) performance. To make up for this deficiency, we in this paper jointly consider codebook design (i.e., mapping matrix and constellation graph design) and codebook assignment to investigate the detection complexity minimization problem for uplink SCMA networks. To tackle this hard problem effectively, we first borrow the idea of dual coordinate search to devise a cost-efficient algorithm to determine the mapping matrix and codebook assignment. Based on the mapping matrix, we exploit the multi-dimensional modulation characteristic of SCMA to carefully design the constellations for each codebook to further reduce the detection complexity. Finally, we present some simulations to illustrate the performance gain of our proposed algorithm as compared with other schemes.

5 G networks may not be competent in fully supporting the high data rates, system capacity, and spectral efficiency expected in the upcoming 6 G networks. An enabling factor to achieve these requirements is the adoption of the Sparse Code Multiple Access (SCMA), which is one of the most promising code-domain Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) techniques. Nowadays, there are two major challenges for the implementation of SCMA in practical networks. First, the design of a near-optimal codebook set at the transmitter, that heavily impacts the network performance. Second, an efficient decoding algorithm at the receiver, that dominates the computational complexity of the system. The two aspects are not independent from each other; therefore the optimization of an SCMA network should address jointly both the Encoder and the Decoder side. Moreover, such solution is far from optimal when designed for general purpose use, since it does not exploit the channel statistical information known at the transmitter and the receiver side. However, most of the works available in the literature address only one aspect and also are not tailored for a given radio channel. In this paper, we design an end-to-end SCMA en/deconding structure based on the integration between a state-of-the-art AutoEncoder (AE) architecture and a novel Wasserstein Generative Adversarial Network (WGAN). The aim is to jointly create a near-optimal codebook design and a non-computationally heavy Decoder that are robust to the given channel statistics. Finally, we trained our model to be flexible to support different channel conditions and compared its performance against the state-of-the-art AE and the best conventional Decoders. The simulation results show that our innovative design exhibits decoding performance very similar to conventional Decoders with a reduced decoding latency.

Sparse code multiple access (SCMA), as a codebook-based non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique, has received research attention in recent years. The codebook design problem for SCMA has also been studied to some extent since codebook choices are highly related to the system's error rate performance. In this paper, we approach the SCMA codebook design problem by formulating an optimization problem to maximize the minimum Euclidean distance (MED) of superimposed codewords under power constraints. While SCMA codebooks with a larger MED are expected to obtain a better BER performance, no optimal SCMA codebook in terms of MED maximization, to the authors' best knowledge, has been reported in the SCMA literature yet. In this paper, a new iterative algorithm based on alternating maximization with exact penalty is proposed for the MED maximization problem. The proposed algorithm, when supplied with appropriate initial points and parameters, achieves a set of codebooks of all users whose MED is larger than any previously reported results. A Lagrange dual problem is derived which provides an upper bound of MED of any set of codebooks. Even though there is still a nonzero gap between the achieved MED and the upper bound given by the dual problem, simulation results demonstrate clear advantages in error rate performances of the proposed set of codebooks over all existing ones not only in AWGN channels but also in some downlink scenarios that fit in 5G/NR applications, making it a good codebook candidate thereof. The proposed set of SCMA codebooks, however, are not shown to outperform existing ones in uplink channels or in the case where non-consecutive OFDMA subcarriers are used. The correctness and accuracy of error curves in the simulation results are further confirmed by the coincidences with the theoretical upper bounds of error rates derived for any given set of codebooks.

In this paper we propose a resource allocation algorithm for uplink sparse code multiple access (SCMA) networks to maximize the energy efficiency (EE). Due to the joint optimization of factor graph matrix and power allocation matrix, the EE maximization is a non-convex mixed-integer non-linear programming (MINLP) problem. After transforming the non-convex form of the uplink sum rate to a convex one and separating subcarrier assignment and power allocation, we propose an energy efficient subcarrier assignment algorithm. By applying the fractional programming theory based on the Dinkelbach method, we then propose power allocation algorithm to maximize EE. Finally, the simulation results show that the proposed resource allocation algorithm can significantly increase the EE of the uplink SCMA network.

This paper studies base station (BS) cooperation in nonuniform heterogeneous networks. Considering the limited capacity at BS and existence of untrusted small cell BSs (SBSs) in practical scenarios, a novel capacity- and trust-aware BS cooperation strategy is proposed. The BS cooperation is performed in a user centric manner, based on the average received signal strength at users, the capacity of BSs, and the trustworthiness of SBSs. Furthermore, with the proposed BS cooperation, the statistics of aggregate information-signal strength and interference strength are theoretically analyzed, based on stochastic geometry. Then, expressions for spectral efficiency (SE) and area SE (ASE) are analytically derived. In addition, to study the impact of the SBS density on the SE and ASE, the optimal densities of normal SBSs to maximize the SE and ASE are proved to exist and obtained. Finally, simulations and numerical evaluations validate the theoretical analysis and reveal that with the awareness of BS capacity and trustworthiness, optimal cooperative thresholds achieving the maximum SE and ASE exist, which decrease with high path-loss exponent; and in high path-loss fading environment with high existence probability of untrusted SBSs, more normal SBSs are required to be deployed to achieve the maximum SE and ASE performance.

Device-to-device (D2D) communication has been regarded as a promising technique for content dissemination in the fifth generation wireless network. To improve the efficiency of content dissemination, in this paper, we propose a content dissemination mechanism with proactive content fetching (PCF) and full-duplex (FD) D2D communication, referred to as PCF-FD mechanism. This mechanism is characterized by the proactive content requests of partial users that don’t request contents originally. FD communication is utilized to establish more D2D links and increase the area spectral efficiency (ASE). Based on stochastic geometry, we derive the recursive formula of content caching probability from the evolutionary perspective. In addition, the expressions of successful offloading probability (SOP), ASE and average energy consumption are also obtained. Computer experiments show that the analytical results match well with simulation results and our scheme outperforms the conventional scheme without PCF and FD communication by 45% in terms of SOP in a scenario with small user density and light load.

The strong interference suffered by users can be a severe problem in cache-enabled networks (CENs) due to the content-centric user association mechanism. To tackle this issue, multi-antenna technology may be employed for interference management. In this paper, we consider a user-centric interference nulling (IN) scheme in two-tier multi-user multi-antenna CEN, with a hybrid most-popular and random caching policy at macro base stations (MBSs) and small base stations (SBSs) to provide file diversity. All the interfering SBSs within the IN range of a user are requested to suppress the interference at this user using zero-forcing beamforming. Using stochastic geometry analysis techniques, we derive a tractable expression for the area spectral efficiency (ASE). A lower bound on the ASE is also obtained, with which we then consider ASE maximization, by optimizing the caching policy and IN coefficient. To solve the resultant mixed integer programming problem, we design an alternating optimization algorithm to minimize the lower bound of the ASE. Our numerical results demonstrate that the proposed caching policy yields performance that is close to the optimum, and it outperforms several existing baselines.

This paper develops an analytical framework for exploring the benefits of applying cluster-based multi-antenna non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) in dense wireless networks. Using the tools of stochastic geometry, a new explicit expression and a tight approximation for per-cluster average data rates are derived in terms of relevant system parameters. Moreover, simulation results are provided to validate the accuracy of our analytical results and draw some essential system design insights. Based on the tractable expressions, we further consider the analysis and optimization of area spectral efficiency (ASE). It is analytically demonstrated that: 1) In terms of the per-cluster average data rate, there exists a wide range for the power allocation coefficient within a cluster where NOMA outperforms orthogonal multiple access (OMA); 2) The per-cluster average data rate of NOMA benefits more from the additional deployment of antennas at base stations (BSs) than that of OMA when the accuracy of channel state information at transmitter (CSIT) is fixed; 3) Regarding to ASE, there exists an optimal combination of the number of clusters and power allocation coefficient to maximize ASE. The performance gain of NOMA relative to OMA becomes marginal when the requirement of user fairness is stringent; 4) As for a special case that the power allocation coefficient is fixed, the analytical results indicate that ASE scales linearly with the number of antennas when the number of clusters is set optimally.

Coverage probability of uplink millimeter wave cellular network with non-homogeneous interferers’ point process

We investigate the area spectral efficiency (ASE) of a two-tier network with multi-antenna base stations (BSs), whose deployment is modeled by Ginibre point process (GPP). First, using the tools of stochastic geometry, we derive the exact and more tractable approximate expressions of the users’ average data rate. With the more tractable approximation, we further observe some interesting results. We demonstrate that the ASE of the networks modeled by GPP benefits more by increasing the density of small-cell BSs than that of Poisson distributed networks. In terms of the optimal number of active users for maximizing ASE, there exists a slight difference between the networks modeled by GPP and Poisson point process.

Aerial base station (ABS) provides a flexible solution for hotspot scenarios in traditional cellular networks, where macro-cell base stations (MBSs) are challenged by overwhelming short-time traffic demands. However, due to stretched transmission distances from sky, the system performance of this ABS-scheme is sometimes questioned. In this paper, we study the system performance of ABS-assisted networks by tools from stochastic geometry. The two-tier network consisting of MBSs and ABSs is modeled as the superposition of a Poisson point process over the infinite plane and a binomial point process within an overlapped finite circular area. We consider a more general probabilistic line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight propagation model and derive coverage probability as well as area spectral efficiency. Based on the proposed analytical framework, we study the impacts of various parameters and compare the ABS-scheme with a benchmark scheme, in which network densification is realized through deploying additional ground base stations (GBSs). Simulation results unveil that: 1) the height and ABS number should be carefully designed to obtain the optimal performance and 2) when the number of assisting BSs is limited, the ABS-scheme can achieve even better performance than the GBS-scheme, which validates the feasibility of enhancing system performance through ABSs in hotspot scenarios.

In this paper, we develop a comprehensive statistical framework to characterize and model large-scale unmanned aerial vehicle-enabled post-disaster recovery cellular networks. In the case of natural or man-made disasters, the cellular network is vulnerable to destruction resulting in coverage voids or coverage holes. Drone-based small cellular networks (DSCNs) can be rapidly deployed to fill such coverage voids. Due to capacity and back-hauling limitations on drone small cells (DSCs), each coverage hole requires a multitude of DSCs to meet the shortfall coverage at a desired quality-of-service. Moreover, ground users also tend to cluster in hot-spots in a post-disaster scenario. Motivated by this fact, we consider the clustered deployment of DSCs around the site of a destroyed BS. Joint consideration partially operating BSs and deployed DSCs yields a unique topology for such public safety networks. Borrowing tools from stochastic geometry, we develop a statistical framework to quantify the down-link performance of a DSCN. Our proposed clustering mechanism extends the traditional Matern and Thomas cluster processes to a more general case, where cluster size is dependent upon the size of the coverage hole. We then employ the newly developed framework to find closed-form expressions (later verified by Monte-Carlo simulations) to quantify the coverage probability, area spectral efficiency, and the energy efficiency for the down-link mobile user. Finally, we explore several design parameters (for both of the adopted cluster processes) that address optimal deployment of the network (i.e., number of drones per cluster, drone altitudes, and transmit power ratio between the traditional surviving base stations and the drone base stations).