Physical-Layer Network Coding: Tutorial, Survey, and Beyond
Abstract
The concept of physical-layer network coding (PNC) was proposed in 2006 for application in wireless networks. Since then it has developed into a subfield of network coding with wide followings. The basic idea of PNC is to exploit the network coding operation that occurs naturally when electromagnetic (EM) waves are superimposed on one another. This simple idea turns out to have profound and fundamental ramifications. Subsequent works by various researchers have led to many new results in the domains of 1) wireless communication; 2) wireless information theory; and 3) wireless networking. The purpose of this paper is fourfold. First, we give a brief tutorial on the basic concept of PNC. Second, we survey and discuss recent key results in the three aforementioned areas. Third, we examine a critical issue in PNC: synchronization. It has been a common belief that PNC requires tight synchronization. Our recent results suggest, however, that PNC may actually benefit from asynchrony. Fourth, we propose that PNC is not just for wireless networks; it can also be useful in optical networks. We provide an example showing that the throughput of a passive optical network (PON) could potentially be raised by 100% with PNC.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1105.4261,
title = {Physical-Layer Network Coding: Tutorial, Survey, and Beyond},
author = {Soung Chang Liew and Shengli Zhang and Lu Lu},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1105.4261},
year = {2011}
}
Comments
This is a pre-finalized version of an invited paper to a special issue of Physical Communication on "Network Coding and Its Application to Wireless Communications"