Potential of cooperative SIC for uplink NOMA in multi-cell network

Abstract

Uplink non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) has attracted considerable attention as a key technology for beyond 5G/6G telecommunication. However, when adopting the uplink NOMA in multi-cell networks where an uplink signal may reach multiple base stations (BSs), the successive interference cancellation (SIC) process must be completed at every BS, resulting in smaller throughput owing to bottlenecks. To cope with this issue, we propose a novel approach called cooperative-SIC (C-SIC), where SIC processes at different BSs are mutually combined by exploiting signal transfer through backhaul links, which can prevent some signals from experiencing bottlenecks. Through performance comparison with the conventional NOMA, we reveal the significant potential of C-SIC for the uplink NOMA in a multi-cell network.