Signal Processing for 5G: Algorithms and Implementations

Chapter 7Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA): Concept and Design

Anass Benjebbour, Keisuke Saito, Anxin Li, Yoshihisa Kishiyama and Takehiro Nakamura

1. 7.1 Introduction
2. 7.2 Concept
   1. 7.2.1 Downlink NOMA
   2. 7.2.2 Uplink NOMA
3. 7.3 Benefits and Motivations
4. 7.4 Interface Design
   1. 7.4.1 Downlink NOMA
   2. 7.4.2 Uplink NOMA
5. 7.5 MIMO Support
   1. 7.5.1 Downlink NOMA
   2. 7.5.2 Uplink NOMA
6. 7.6 Performance Evaluations
   1. 7.6.1 Downlink NOMA
   2. 7.6.2 Uplink NOMA
7. 7.7 Conclusion
8. References

7.1 Introduction

The design of multiple access schemes is one important aspect of cellular system design. It aims to provide the means for multiple users to share the radio resources in a spectrum-efficient and cost-effective manner. In 1G, 2G, and 3G, frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access and code division multiple access were introduced, respectively. In Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) and single-carrier (SC)-FDMA are adopted as an orthogonal multiple access (OMA) approach [1]. Such an orthogonal design has the benefit that there is no mutual interference among users, and therefore good system-level performance can be achieved even with simplified receivers.

In recent years, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has been attracting a lot of attention as a novel and promising multiple-access scheme for LTE enhancements and 5G systems [2–11]. NOMA introduces power-domain user multiplexing, exploits channel difference among users ...