Impact of Non-orthogonal Multiple Access on the Offloading of Mobile Edge Computing

Abstract

This paper considers the coexistence of two important communication techniques, non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and mobile edge computing (MEC). Both NOMA uplink and downlink transmissions are applied to MEC, and analytical results are developed to demonstrate that the use of NOMA can efficiently reduce the latency and energy consumption of MEC offloading. In addition, various asymptotic studies are carried out to reveal the impact of the users' channel conditions and transmit powers on the application of NOMA to MEC is quite different to those in conventional NOMA scenarios. Computer simulation results are also provided to facilitate the performance evaluation of NOMA-MEC and also verify the accuracy of the developed analytical results.