Iterative Network and Channel Decoding for the Relay Channel with Multiple Sources

The multiple access relay channel with N source nodes and one relay with orthogonal transmission intervals is considered. Two different practical code designs based on decode-and-forward relaying are proposed and their achievable rates are calculated. The first code separates network and channel coding whereas the second code uses an iterative joint decoder at the relay, such that the redundancy provided by the network code is exploited in the channel decoder. Simulation results show that both codes allow the system to gain cooperative diversity as compared to the case where the relay´s transmission is not used.