Short-packet communication for MIMO NOMA relay networks: BLER and AoI analysis

This work considers a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) dual-hop relay system in which the size of signal packets is finite and the propagation environment follows the Nakagami-m distribution. Based on an approximation of the Gaussian Q-function, Riemann integral, and incomplete Gamma function, we derive the closed-form expressions of the block error rate (BLER), age of information (AoI), and latency of the proposed system in both exact and asymptotic cases. On the other hand, the automatic repeat request (ARQ) protocol and acknowledgment (ACK) are applied to confirm the accuracy of the receiving data packet process. Moreover, the maximal-ratio transmission (MRT), and maximal-ratio combining (MRC) are used to improve the BLER, AoI, and latency of the proposed system. The accuracy of mathematical analysis frameworks is confirmed by simulation results. The calculation results show that the considered system satisfies the requirement of ultra-reliable and low-latency communications (URLLC). The results also represent that the MIMO-NOMA system outperforms the MIMO-OMA system in terms of BLER performance. The results also provide insight into the optimizations of the power allocation coefficient and the number of transmission bits that minimize the BLER and AoI of the considered system. © 2023 Elsevier GmbH