Network Coding with Two-Way Relaying: Achievable Rate Regions and Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoffs

Abstract: This paper addresses the fundamental characteristics of information exchange via multihop network coding over two-way relaying in a wireless ad hoc network. The end-to-end rate regions achieved by time-division multihop (TDMH), MAC-layer network coding (MLNC) and PHY-layer network coding (PLNC) are first characterized. It is shown that MLNC does not always achieve better rates than TDMH, time sharing between TDMH and MLNC is able to achieve a larger rate region, and PLNC dominates the rate regions achieved by TDMH and MLNC. An opportunistic scheduling algorithm for MLNC and PLNC is then proposed to stabilize the two-way relaying system for Poisson arrivals whenever the rate pair is within the Shannon rate regions of MLNC and PLNC. To understand the two-way transmission limits of multihop network coding, the sum-rate optimization with or without certain traffic pattern and the end-to-end diversity-multiplexing tradeoffs (DMTs) of two-way transmission over multiple relay nodes are also analyzed.