Stochastic Geometric Performance Analysis for NR Sidelink Multi-Hop Relay

Sidelink relay enhancement, as a promising item in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) R18, can support further vertical domain expansion of New Radio (NR). However, existing research on performance analysis of NR sidelink relay, either considered simple cases of single lane model or partially (if not totally) ignored the important factors of NR sidelink, such as resource allocation, power control, and coexistence with the cellular network. In this paper, a general stochastic geometry theoretical framework for performance analysis is developed to evaluate the success probability, time cost, and transmission distance of NR sidelink multi-hop relay in a typical unicast scenario, closely following the 3GPP specifications in both physical layer characteristics and parameters. As verified by extensive experiments, the considered performance metrics under different parameter settings can be accurately described through this theoretical framework, which holds great prospects for NR sidelink network design and deployment.