When D2D Meets Network Coding: A Tutorial Case Study

Abstract

As one of the core technologies for the future 5G communications, device-to-device (D2D) communication is known to be effective in enhancing spectrum efficiency and improving network throughput. While substantial progress has been made regarding D2D communications in various applications, most of the studies, however, focus on the single-hop D2D communication scenario, leaving the multi-hop D2D communication scenario inadequately investigated. Considering the multi-hop D2D communications are extremely useful in extending the communication range between two devices, and when D2D meets network coding, the potentials of both technologies can be fully unlocked, in this article, we present a tutorial case study on the long-distance D2D communication protocol in which multi-hop data transmissions are enhanced by network coding. We investigate four representative scenarios experimentally to demonstrate the performance gain of applying network coding to D2D communications. Our intention is to provide an in-depth study showing how network coding can be essentially beneficial to multi-hop D2D communications, and to encourage additional research in this area forthcoming.