Improving error performance of Joint Channel and Network Coding in Multiple Access Relay Channel

In this paper, we propose a technique to improve the performance of Joint Channel and Network Coding (JCNC) scheme in Multiple Access Relay Channel (MARC). This technique is motivated by the observation that decoding quality is improved when channel output can be processed iteratively. Using different permutation patterns for different users, we enabled more scenarios that destination can apply iterative decoding, thereby achieving an improvement in the overall performance. The proposed scheme is evaluated for Gaussian channels and Rayleigh fading channels, and it is shown to perform well in both cases. A comparative study is also given, and it is shown that up to 3dB and 6dB gain from the original JCNC scheme is achievable in AWGN and Rayleigh fading channels respectively.