Space-time analog network coding for multiple access relay channels

Network coding is a paradigm for modern communication networks by allowing intermediate nodes to mix messages received from multiple sources. Recently, space-time analog network coding (STANC) has been proposed for non-regenerative multi-way relaying, where multiple nodes are exchanging information through the multi-antenna relay without direct links. In this paper, we investigate STANC in multiple-access relay channels, where multiple nodes communicate to a common destination through a multi-antenna relay with direct links. We discuss several different possible schemes including STANC with Alamouti scheme under three time slots constraints and compare the sum rate and error rate performance.