Non Orthogonal Multiple Access: Basic Concepts and Misconceptions

Abstract

Non Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) is fundamentally different from the Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) techniques as in NOMA the user make access to channel by using the same frequency and in the same time. In NOMA the multiplexing is performed in power domain by using superposition coding at the transmitter and receiver side uses Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) to separate the transmitted signals that are multiplexed in power domain. This technique is a possible candidate for future radio access so this is a hot topic in research. Being a different method from OMA that is implemented in all previous mobile communication generations several misconceptions have been developed about this technique. This paper give an overview about NOMA based system and also analyze the major misconceptions about this technique and also explain the concepts to resolve these mistaken beliefs.