Constellation Shared Multiple Access -- A NOMA scheme for increased user capacity in 5G MMTC

Abstract: While the legacy cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiple access is retained as the preferred multiple access scheme for 5G enhanced mobile broadband the research is now focussed on the multiple access schemes for massive machine type communication (mMTC) and ultra-reliable low latency communication .Though orthogonal multiple access schemes provide simple reception, they limit number of simultaneous user equipment as against the primary requirement of mMTC. On the other hand, the various non-orthogonal multiple access schemes which have been proposed so far as the likely solution, need complex successive interference cancellation receivers. So a simplified scheme named constellation shared multiple access is proposed here which substantially increases the number of simultaneous users to be served within a single resource block (RB) in LTE or 5G New Radio, thus aiding the massive connectivity requirement of mMTC. This is achieved by differentiating among the users in constellation domain. Moreover, the simple architecture compatible with 5G eMBB makes it a strong contender multiple access contender for 5G mMTC.