On the Performance of Downlink Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access Wireless Networks With Directional Beamforming and Limit of the User Number

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) is an enabling and key wireless technology for the next generation of mobile communications. Generally, previous works focus on the performance in NOMA networks, based on some assumptions. For instance, the number of users in a NOMA group, is two-category: 1) only two users; 2) any number of users without restriction. And just a certain factor of channel gain, e.g., the propagation path loss or the small scale fading, is subjectively considered to be dominant. Besides, there is lack of the closed-form expression for the probability density function (PDF) of ordered channel gain. In this paper, we investigate a downlink cellular NOMA network with the directional beamforming and the upper limit for user number (ULFUN) in a NOMA group. Meanwhile, the path loss and the Rayleigh fading are taken into account as a whole for ordering channel gains. Based on the derived closed-form PDF of ordered channel gain, we analyze the performance for an arbitrary user in the network and derive closed-form expressions for the outage probability, the approximate meta distribution of conditional success probability (CSP) and the ergodic data rate. The provided simulations demonstrate that the proposed analytical results are accurate and reasonable. Moreover, it illustrates that the existence of ULFUN can have a positive impact on the performance gain in low SINR environments, while in terms of the outage probability, ULFUN would become a non-negligible and negative factor in the improvement of performance for high SINR environments.

Automated summary

This paper investigates a downlink cellular NOMA network with directional beamforming and an upper limit for user number in a NOMA group. Analyzing the performance for an arbitrary user in the network, the derived closed-form PDF of ordered channel gain is utilized to derive expressions for outage probability, conditional success probability, and ergodic data rate. Simulations show the accuracy and reasonableness of the analytical results, while also highlighting the impact of the upper limit for user number on performance gain in different SINR environments.