Network coding in multiple access relay channel with multiple antenna relay

Network coding is a paradigm for modern communication networks by allowing intermediate nodes to mix messages received from multiple sources. In this paper, we carry out a study on network coding in multiple access relay channel (MARC) with multiple antenna relay. Under the same transmission time slots constraint, we investigate several different transmission strategies applicable to the system model, including direct transmission, decode-and-forward, digital network coding, digital network coding with Alamouti space time coding, analog network coding, and compare the error rate performance. Interestingly, simulation studies show that in the system model under investigation, the schemes with network coding do not show any performance gain compared with the traditional schemes with same time slots consumption.