Joint Channel-Network Coding for the Semi-orthogonal Multiple Access Relay Channel

In this paper, a joint channel-network coding is proposed for the multiple access half duplex relay channel. To improve performance, the classical constraints of orthogonality between links are partially relaxed, i.e., in the first transmission phase the two sources are allowed to transmit simultaneously, while in the second phase, the relay transmits alone and the sources are silent. In order to resolve the subsequent collisions occurring at the relay and destination, related iterative multiuser detection structures are suggested. Simulation results demonstrate the superiority of the proposed semi-orthogonal transmission protocol compared to the orthogonal one.