Wireless network using feedback of side information and communication method using network coding

A communication method of a transmitter, the method comprising:

• transmitting packet data including at least one redundant bit to a receiver;
• receiving side information fed back from the receiver, the side information indicating a similarity between transmitted packet data transmitted from the transmitter and received packet data received by the receiver, and further indicating to the transmitter to increase the amount of redundant bits included in the at least one redundant bit by an amount of bits determined based on the similarity between the transmitted packet data and the received packet data;
• determining an additional amount of redundant bits based on the side information;
• and
• transmitting the additional redundant bits to the receiver.

A communication method of a relay station in a network comprising a pair of a first transmitter and a first receiver, a pair of a second transmitter and a second receiver, and the relay station performing network coding, the method comprising:

• receiving first packet data broadcasted from the first transmitter and second packet data broadcasted from the second transmitter;
• receiving first side information fed back from the first receiver and second side information fed back from the second receiver;
• generating additional redundant bits for the first receiver and additional redundant bits for the second receiver based on the first side information and the second side information;
• and
• broadcasting the additional redundant bits for the first receiver and the additional redundant bits for the second receiver,
• wherein the first side information indicates a similarity between the first packet data broadcasted from the first transmitter and first packet data received by the first receiver, or indicates a similarity between the second packet data broadcasted from the second transmitter and second packet data received by the first receiver, and
• wherein the second side information indicates a similarity between the first packet data broadcasted from the first transmitter and first packet data received by the second receiver, or indicates a similarity between the second packet data broadcasted from the second transmitter and second packet data received by the second receiver.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions to cause a processor to execute a method of a receiver, the method comprising:

• receiving packet data transmitted from a transmitter, the transmitted packet data including at least one redundant bit;
• generating side information indicating a similarity between the transmitted packet data and the received packet data, and further indicating to the transmitter to increase the amount of redundant bits included in the at least one redundant bit by an amount of bits determined based on the similarity between the transmitted packet data and the received packet data;
• and
• feeding back the side information.

A communication apparatus for a receiver, the apparatus comprising:

• a receiving unit configured to receive packet data transmitted from a transmitter, the transmitted packet data including at least one redundant bit;
• a generating unit configured to generate side information indicating a similarity between the transmitted packet data and the received packet data, and further indicating to the transmitter to increase the amount of redundant bits included in the at least one redundant bit by an amount of bits determined based on the similarity between the transmitted packet data and the received packet data;
• and
• a feedback unit configured to feed back the side information to the transmitter.

A communication apparatus for a transmitter, the apparatus comprising:

• a transmitting unit configured to transmit packet data including at least one redundant bit to a receiver;
• a receiver configured to receive side information fed back from a receiver, the side information indicating a similarity between transmitted packet data transmitted from the transmitter and received packet data received by the receiver, and further indicating to the transmitter to increase the amount of redundant bits included in the at least one redundant bit by an amount of bits determined based on the similarity between the transmitted packet data and the received packet data;
• and
• a generating unit configured to determine an additional amount of redundant bits based on the side information,
• wherein the transmitting unit is further configured to transmit the additional redundant bits to the receiver.