Low Complexity Separate Network and Channel Coding Algorithm for Multiple Access Relay Channel

The employment of the network coding (NC) combined with distributed FEC, in cooperative transmission schemes leads to a more efficient use of the additional time-frequency resources required by cooperation, i.e. by allowing a single relay node to serve two or more user terminals (Multiple Access Relay Channel). This paper proposes a low complexity cooperation algorithm which employs network and distributed channel coding techniques in a two sources – one relay node cooperation scheme for the uplink connection of a cooperative cellular network. The performances of the proposed cooperation algorithm are evaluated in terms of BER, PER and spectral efficiency in several significant scenarios. The performances provided by this algorithm are compared with the performances of non-cooperative coded transmission and with the performances of the " mother " algorithm, the " complete "-SNCC algorithm.