Cross-layer design of multiple antenna multicast combining AMC with truncated HARQ

Abstract

Combining adaptive modulation and coding with truncated hybrid automatic request, this paper presents a cross-layer design for multiple antenna multicast over a common radio channel. In the design, the modulation and coding scheme of a multicast packet is selected based on the minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in the multicast group in such a way that the constraint on the packet loss rate is satisfied for all users in the group. A general expression for the throughput of the proposed design is derived in frequency-flat fading channel environment and specific results in Rayleigh, Nakagami, and Rician fading channels are provided. It is shown that the proposed multicast design provides a significant throughput gain compared to the unicast counterpart, in particular, in the mid- to high SNR region. It is also shown that a larger value of the diversity order, Nakagami parameter, and Rician factor is more beneficial to multicast than to unicast.