Network coding-aware cooperative relaying for downlink cellular relay networks

In this paper, we first overview some traditional relaying technologies, and then present a Network Coding-Aware Cooperative Relaying (NC²R) scheme to improve the performance of downlink transmission for relay-aided cellular networks. Moreover, systematic performance analysis and extensive simulations are performed for the proposed NC²R and traditional relaying and non-relaying schemes. The results show that NC²R outperforms conventional relaying and non-relaying schemes in terms of blocking probability and spectral efficiency, especially for cell-edge users. Additionally, the location selections for relays with NC²R are also discussed. These results will provide some insights for incorporating network coding into next-generation broadband cellular relay mobile systems.