System Design for Multiple Users Cooperative Communication in LTE

In this paper, a new mechanism, Multiple Users Cooperative Communication (MUCC) in LTE, is proposed. The detailed system designs are presented, which includes the definition of B-UE (Benefitted UE) and S-UE (Supporting UE), bearer management, protocol stack, MAC PDU (Protocol Data Unit) enhancement and signaling flow. Provisioning some S-UE could relay the B-UE´s data to the B-UE via short range communication technology. The eNB may send the B-UE´s data to the B-UE directly or to an S-UE cooperating with the B-UE. Since the scheduled UE is always the one with the best Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), the multi-users diversity gain can be acquired. The system simulation results are also presented, which prove the benefit of the MUCC.