NOMA-Based Inter-Base Station Cooperative Scheduling Method Among Multiple Service Channels to Maximize Integrated System Throughput

We propose a non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA)-based inter-base station (BS) cooperative scheduling method among terminals in multiple service channels to maximize integrated system throughput. The proposed method optimizes coordinated time/frequency-domain scheduling, which includes bandwidth and power allocation to terminals, with inter-BS cooperation using NOMA with successive interference canceller (SIC). The computational complexity and signaling overhead at the backhaul of the proposed method are expected to increase as the number of BS in cooperation increases. Therefore, we introduce the limited range in inter-BS cooperation. We also evaluate computationally-efficient suboptimal transmission power allocation strategies in addition to the optimal one. Numerical results show that the effectiveness of the proposed method is especially significant when the system prioritizes the fairness among terminals (including fairness among services). We also show that the appropriate range in inter-BS cooperation and use of the suboptimal transmission power allocation strategy maintain most from the potential gain by using the proposed method while the system complexity is effectively reduced.