Joint network-channel coded multi-way relaying

We propose a joint network-channel coding scheme for multi-way relay networks, generalizing existing methods for the two-way relay channel. With our scheme, the relay performs log-likelihood ratio quantization and subsequent network encoding, resulting in low relay complexity. We design the compression function at the relay using the information bottleneck framework. To optimize the performance of our scheme, the transmission of network-coded soft information from the relay to the terminals is carefully designed. The individual terminals perform iterative joint decoding of the messages transmitted by all other terminals. Numerical simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed relaying protocol, showing that our scheme scales well with the number of terminals and is suitable for asymmetric channel conditions.