Energy-efficient resource allocation for OFDMA-based two-way relay channel with physical-layer network coding

Physical-layer network coding (PNC) is a novel cooperative technique for two-way relay channel (TRC), where two users exchange information via intermediate relay node(s). On the other hand, the issue of green communications to reduce energy consumption has recently started to arouse much attention. This article studies the energy-efficient resource allocation problem for orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA)-based TRC with PNC. In particular, resource allocation for multi-user, multi-relay OFDMA systems is vital for the optimization of power allocation, relay selection and subcarrier assignment. By applying convex optimization techniques, an optimal resource allocation scheme is proposed to minimize total transmit power with required rates. Numerical simulations show that the proposed scheme provides diversity gain compared to the single relay network, and PNC gain relative to the TRC without PNC.