Orthogonal techniques (such as TDMA – time division
multiple access) are traditionally used when a set of terminals
wants to exchange data and a relay is required when wireless
terminals cannot communicate directly. This paper proposes two
schemes to address multi-way channels when a set of terminals
wants to exchange data. Both proposed schemes consist of a first
phase based on virtual MIMO with lattice reduction-aided (LRA)
detection at the relay, establishing a multiple access channel
(MAC). Two new strategies are then proposed for the second
(multicast) phase; one for single antenna terminals and another
for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) terminals. The
second strategy achieves interference suppression by successively
combining physical layer network coding and MIMO detection
(with LRA detectors also at the terminals). The paper assesses a 3
terminals network with a relay for which a TDMA-based scheme
would require 6 time-slots, while the proposed strategy for
MIMO terminals is able to exchange the information between all
terminals using 2 time-slots only. This latter scheme is easily
scalable to a higher number of terminals, and always able to
accomplish the exchange of messages between all of them in just
2 time-slots, although limited by the number of antennas that the
terminals can fit and also the MIMO processing complexity they
can afford.