Performance Investigation of NOMA versus OMA Techniques for mmWave
Massive MIMO Communications
Abstract
The fifth-generation (5G) of cellular technology is currently being
deployed over the world. In the next decade of mobile networks, beyond
5G (B5G) cellular networks with the under-development advanced
technology enablers are expected to be a fully developed system that
could offer tremendous opportunities for both enterprises and society at
large. B5G in more ambitious scenarios will be capable to facilitate
much-improved performance with the significant upgrade of the key
parameters such as massive connectivity, ultra-reliable and low latency
(URLL), spectral efficiency (SE) and energy efficiency (EE). Equipping
non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) with other key drivers will help
to explore systems’ applicability to cover a wide variety of
applications to forge a path for future networks. NOMA empowers the
networks with seamless connectivity and can provide a secure
transmission strategy for the industrial internet of things (IIoT)
anywhere and anytime. Despite being a promising candidate for B5G
networks a comprehensive study that covers operating principles,
fundamental features and technological feasibility of NOMA at mmWave
massive MIMO communications is not available. To address this, a
simulation-based comparative study between NOMA and orthogonal multiple
access (OMA) techniques for mmWave massive multiple-input and
multiple-output (MIMO) communications is presented with performance
discussions and identifying technology gaps. Throughout the paper,
aspects of operating principles, fundamental features and technological
feasibility of NOMA are discussed. Also, it is demonstrated that NOMA
not only has good adaptability but also can outperform other OMA
techniques for mmWave massive MIMO communications. Some foreseeable
challenges and future directions on applying NOMA to B5G networks are
also provided.