Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for Cooperative Communications: Challenges, Opportunities, and Trends

NOMA is a promising radio access technique for next-generation wireless networks. In this article, we investigate the NOMA-based cooperative relay network. We begin with an introduction of the existing relay-assisted NOMA systems by classifying them into three categories: uplink, downlink, and composite architectures. Then we discuss their principles and key features, and provide a comprehensive comparison from the perspective of spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, and total transmit power. A novel strategy called hybrid power allocation is further discussed for the composite architecture, which can reduce the computational complexity and signaling overhead at the expense of marginal sum rate degradation. Finally, major challenges, opportunities, and future research trends for the design of NOMA-based cooperative relay systems with other techniques are also highlighted to provide insights for researchers in this field.