Performance Analysis of Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) based Vertical Heterogeneous Network.

Abstract

Next generation networks are believed to be a combination of Ground and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Base Stations. Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is one of the promising radio access techniques for performance enhancement in “5G and beyond” networks. Compared to the mostly common in use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA), NOMA offers various enhancements like, increased number of users connecting to the network, improved spectral efficiency, efficient power utilization and many more. This project presents analysis on downlink performance of NOMA in a network comprising of a Ground Base Station assisted by UAV Base Stations serving multiple users located at random points in a network cell. The performance is determined by evaluation of key performance indicators (i.e) Spectral efficiency and Energy efficiency in a Rayleigh fading environment and compared against OFDMA. The stages in this project include; clear understanding of NOMA as a multiple access technique, use of MATLAB (Matrix Laboratory) to design network system model, design and implement an algorithm for allocation of users to the different channels of the aerial and ground base stations, obtain numerical and simulated results and carryout result analysis in comparison of NOMA with OFDMA. The project presents results that show a NOMA based network offering an improved performance than an OFDMA network.