Bit-Interleaved Coded SCMA With Iterative Multiuser Detection: Multidimensional Constellations Design

This paper investigates the constellation/codebook design of a promising uplink multiple access technique, sparse code multiple access (SCMA), proposed for the fifth generation mobile networks. The application of bit-interleaved coded modulation with iterative multiuser detection is considered for uplink SCMA over fading channels. Extrinsic information transfer chart is used to aid the analysis and the design of multidimensional constellations, and the design criteria for multidimensional constellations and labelings optimization are thus established. Furthermore, a new and simple approach of multi-stage optimization for the multidimensional constellation design is proposed for SCMA, to improve the bit-error rate performance and alleviate the complexity of turbo multiuser detection. Numerical and simulation results are also provided to demonstrate the performance and verify the efficiency of the proposed scheme, compared with the state of the art.