In this paper we study feedback mechanisms for unsourced random access (URA) communications. We propose an algorithm to construct feedback packets broadcasted to the users by the base station (BS) and a feedback packet format that allows the users to estimate their channels and infer positive or negative feedback based on the presented thresholding algorithms. We show that the proposed feedback technique leads to a substantial reduction in the packet error rates and signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) required to support various numbers of active users. We also demonstrate that the proposed feedback imposes a much smaller complexity burden on the users compared to the feedback that acknowledges only successful or only all undecoded users. Finally, we present a theoretical analysis framework that closely matches the experimental results.

Designing multidimensional constellations (MdCs) is an integral part of sparse code multiple access (SCMA). Since the optimal maximum a posteriori (MAP) receiver for SCMA is too complex in most applications, one highly popular technique is the near-optimal message passing algorithm (MPA), where its performance improves with increasing the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and the number of iterations. When the number of MPA iterations has to be limited (e.g., low-latency and/or low-complexity and/or energy-sensitive applications), the performance gap between MAP and MPA becomes significant, especially at low-to-medium SNRs. Inspired by the promising features of hypercubes when used along with bit-interleaved coded modulation, we construct novel MdCs which are based on a unitary rotation of a hypercube by a rotation angle that aims to achieve the minimum frame-error-rate (FER). By exploiting special properties of hypercubes, we fit a second-order rational polynomial to a few measured FER samples, and find a close-to-optimal rotation angle at each SNR and MPA iteration. Our proposed MdCs provide substantial performance gains (as much as 2 dB) in comparison to the best known SCMA MdCs in the literature, especially in low-to-medium SNR regions when the number of MPA iterations has to be low, and in the presence of 5G-compliant LDPC codes.

Sparse code multiple access (SCMA) is a potential non-orthogonal multiple access candidate for future wireless systems. The key performance indicators (KPIs) of uplink SCMA multidimensional constellations (MdCs) that should be considered in their design process have recently been identified in conjunction with the LTE turbo code for different channel scenarios. However, it is questionable whether the same KPIs are applicable to designing MdCs when a different error correcting code is employed. In this paper, we investigate the effect of the high-rate and low-rate 5G low density parity check (LDPC) codes on determining KPIs in designing MdCs for uplink SCMA systems under various channel scenarios. Through simulations, we show that similar results to the LTE turbo coded case occur in the presence of 5G LDPC code, with one notable exception over one specific scenario. The exception is in the performance of one MdC, which has a low number of distinct points; its performance is significantly worse than predicted by the KPIs when the low-rate 5G LDPC code is employed. This phenomenon happens due to the inherent structure of the 5G LDPC code, in which we propose a pseudorandom interleaver to rectify the problem.

In this paper, we design and compare multilevel polar coding (MLPC) and bit-interleaved polar coded modulation (BIPCM) for uplink sparse code multiple access (SCMA) systems that operate over fast and block fading channels. Both successive cancellation (SC) and successive cancellation list (SCL) decoding algorithms are considered. Simulation results show that, with either decoder, BIPCM performs better than its MLPC counterpart. Also, both BIPCM and MLPC exhibit a performance advantage over LTE turbo-coded and WiMAX LDPC SCMA systems when the SCL technique is used for decoding.