Performance analysis of a random access packet radio system with joint network-spatial diversity

This paper explores how joint network and spatial diversity can be employed to improve the throughput/delay performance of packet radio systems. In the context of the recently proposed network diversity multiple access (NDMA) technique, the challenges and advantages of using antenna arrays at the base station to complement network-assisted diversity are investigated. It is shown that remarkable improvement of the system performance can be achieved by combining network and spatial diversity. A blind method based on PARAFAC analysis tools is proposed to solve the collision resolution problem under joint network/spatial diversity. The method is also applicable to, e.g., joint network/spreading diversity.