Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for Device-to-Device Communications
Summary
Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) represents a paradigm shift in multiple-access design by allowing multiple devices to share the same time–frequency resources via power-domain multiplexing. In conjunction with Device-to-Device (D2D) communications, NOMA facilitates direct links between proximate devices, thereby reducing latency, enhancing spectral efficiency and offloading traffic from centralised infrastructure. Central to NOMA operation is Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC), which decodes incoming signals in descending order of power, enabling concurrent transmissions without strict orthogonality. The integration of D2D links under NOMA enables heterogeneous network architectures characterised by increased connectivity, improved throughput and support for emerging applications such as Internet of Things (IoT), vehicular networks and energy-constrained sensor systems. Recent advances have explored the incorporation of energy-harvesting techniques, full-duplex operation and robust optimisation under channel uncertainty to further improve performance. These developments underscore the global significance of NOMA-enabled D2D communications in meeting the demands of 5G and beyond by delivering high capacity, low latency and flexible resource utilisation.
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Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for Device-to-Device Communications publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in non-orthogonal multiple access for device-to-device communications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA): A multiple-access technique that allows multiple users to share the same resources by differentiating their signals in the power domain.
Device-to-Device (D2D) communications: Direct communication between user devices without traversing the base station, reducing latency and offloading network traffic.
Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC): A receiver technique that decodes and subtracts stronger signals sequentially to retrieve weaker ones in a shared channel.
Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer (SWIPT): A technology enabling concurrent wireless transmission of energy and data to devices.
Full-Duplex (FD): A mode of operation in which a node transmits and receives simultaneously on the same frequency band.
Outage Probability: The likelihood that the instantaneous data rate falls below a required threshold, reflecting communication reliability.
References
- SWIPT and uplink NOMA approach for self energy recycling in full-duplex enabled D2D network. Alexandria Engineering Journal (2024).
- A Novel Multi-Cell Interference-Aware Cooperative QoS-Based NOMA Group D2D System. Future Internet (2023).
- Outage Constrained Design in NOMA-Based D2D Offloading Systems. Electronics (2022).
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