Recent Advances for 5G: Emerging Scheme of NOMA in Cognitive Radio and Satellite Communications

Dear Colleagues,

An explosive demand is anticipated for the fifth generation (5G) wireless communication networks, which are expected to be of improved spectrum efficiency. In term of network access technique, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is recognized as a promising candidate applied in 5G. Take power domain NOMA as an example, where the power domain is implemented for multiple access. Such an NOMA is fundamentally different compared to the previous networks, which have been relying on the time/frequency/code domain. In principle, NOMA simultaneously allocates a multitude of users with the same radio resource. At the transmission side, superposition signaling is required, while signal processing techniques at the reception side are studied to mitigate the interference.

Driven by new multiple access applied in 5G, the applications of NOMA need to be investigated in traditional networks, such as cognitive radio and satellite systems. Although numerous techniques related to NOMA have been widely introduced in recent years, there are still many unsolved problems. To bridge this gap, researchers are motivated to study new transmission schemes for two specific kinds of networks, including cognitive radio and satellite systems. Among others, NOMA-based cognitive radio (CR) networks have recently emerged as a promising solution to enhance the spectral efficiency and fix the massive connectivity problems, as well as a NOMA-based integrated terrestrial-satellite network, in which the NOMA-based terrestrial networks and the satellite cooperatively provide coverage for ground users while employing the entire bandwidth.

Based on reports from recent works, NOMA is a promising candidate to achieve massive connectivity and high spectral efficiency for future wireless communications. However, new signal processing problems need to be solved in order for us to benefit from the advantages of NOMA technologies for future deployments of 5G. This Special Issue in Electronics aims to capture the state-of-the-art advances in NOMA, particularly from the perspective of two considered networks.

Dr. Dinh-Thuan Do
Prof. Dr. Miroslav Voznak
Guest Editors

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• non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)
• cognitive radio
• satellite systems