1,390 research outputs found
An Efficient Uplink Multi-Connectivity Scheme for 5G mmWave Control Plane Applications
The millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies offer the potential of orders of
magnitude increases in capacity for next-generation cellular systems. However,
links in mmWave networks are susceptible to blockage and may suffer from rapid
variations in quality. Connectivity to multiple cells - at mmWave and/or
traditional frequencies - is considered essential for robust communication. One
of the challenges in supporting multi-connectivity in mmWaves is the
requirement for the network to track the direction of each link in addition to
its power and timing. To address this challenge, we implement a novel uplink
measurement system that, with the joint help of a local coordinator operating
in the legacy band, guarantees continuous monitoring of the channel propagation
conditions and allows for the design of efficient control plane applications,
including handover, beam tracking and initial access. We show that an
uplink-based multi-connectivity approach enables less consuming, better
performing, faster and more stable cell selection and scheduling decisions with
respect to a traditional downlink-based standalone scheme. Moreover, we argue
that the presented framework guarantees (i) efficient tracking of the user in
the presence of the channel dynamics expected at mmWaves, and (ii) fast
reaction to situations in which the primary propagation path is blocked or not
available.Comment: Submitted for publication in IEEE Transactions on Wireless
Communications (TWC
End-to-End Simulation of 5G mmWave Networks
Due to its potential for multi-gigabit and low latency wireless links,
millimeter wave (mmWave) technology is expected to play a central role in 5th
generation cellular systems. While there has been considerable progress in
understanding the mmWave physical layer, innovations will be required at all
layers of the protocol stack, in both the access and the core network.
Discrete-event network simulation is essential for end-to-end, cross-layer
research and development. This paper provides a tutorial on a recently
developed full-stack mmWave module integrated into the widely used open-source
ns--3 simulator. The module includes a number of detailed statistical channel
models as well as the ability to incorporate real measurements or ray-tracing
data. The Physical (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers are modular and
highly customizable, making it easy to integrate algorithms or compare
Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) numerologies, for example.
The module is interfaced with the core network of the ns--3 Long Term Evolution
(LTE) module for full-stack simulations of end-to-end connectivity, and
advanced architectural features, such as dual-connectivity, are also available.
To facilitate the understanding of the module, and verify its correct
functioning, we provide several examples that show the performance of the
custom mmWave stack as well as custom congestion control algorithms designed
specifically for efficient utilization of the mmWave channel.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figures, submitted to IEEE Communications Surveys and
Tutorials (revised Jan. 2018
Massive MIMO is a Reality -- What is Next? Five Promising Research Directions for Antenna Arrays
Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) is no longer a "wild" or
"promising" concept for future cellular networks - in 2018 it became a reality.
Base stations (BSs) with 64 fully digital transceiver chains were commercially
deployed in several countries, the key ingredients of Massive MIMO have made it
into the 5G standard, the signal processing methods required to achieve
unprecedented spectral efficiency have been developed, and the limitation due
to pilot contamination has been resolved. Even the development of fully digital
Massive MIMO arrays for mmWave frequencies - once viewed prohibitively
complicated and costly - is well underway. In a few years, Massive MIMO with
fully digital transceivers will be a mainstream feature at both sub-6 GHz and
mmWave frequencies. In this paper, we explain how the first chapter of the
Massive MIMO research saga has come to an end, while the story has just begun.
The coming wide-scale deployment of BSs with massive antenna arrays opens the
door to a brand new world where spatial processing capabilities are
omnipresent. In addition to mobile broadband services, the antennas can be used
for other communication applications, such as low-power machine-type or
ultra-reliable communications, as well as non-communication applications such
as radar, sensing and positioning. We outline five new Massive MIMO related
research directions: Extremely large aperture arrays, Holographic Massive MIMO,
Six-dimensional positioning, Large-scale MIMO radar, and Intelligent Massive
MIMO.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Digital Signal Processin
Towards a Realistic Assessment of Multiple Antenna HCNs: Residual Additive Transceiver Hardware Impairments and Channel Aging
Given the critical dependence of broadcast channels by the accuracy of
channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT), we develop a general
downlink model with zero-forcing (ZF) precoding, applied in realistic
heterogeneous cellular systems with multiple antenna base stations (BSs).
Specifically, we take into consideration imperfect CSIT due to pilot
contamination, channel aging due to users relative movement, and unavoidable
residual additive transceiver hardware impairments (RATHIs). Assuming that the
BSs are Poisson distributed, the main contributions focus on the derivations of
the upper bound of the coverage probability and the achievable user rate for
this general model. We show that both the coverage probability and the user
rate are dependent on the imperfect CSIT and RATHIs. More concretely, we
quantify the resultant performance loss of the network due to these effects. We
depict that the uplink RATHIs have equal impact, but the downlink transmit BS
distortion has a greater impact than the receive hardware impairment of the
user. Thus, the transmit BS hardware should be of better quality than user's
receive hardware. Furthermore, we characterise both the coverage probability
and user rate in terms of the time variation of the channel. It is shown that
both of them decrease with increasing user mobility, but after a specific value
of the normalised Doppler shift, they increase again. Actually, the time
variation, following the Jakes autocorrelation function, mirrors this effect on
coverage probability and user rate. Finally, we consider space division
multiple access (SDMA), single user beamforming (SU-BF), and baseline
single-input single-output (SISO) transmission. A comparison among these
schemes reveals that the coverage by means of SU-BF outperforms SDMA in terms
of coverage.Comment: accepted in IEEE TV
- …