Sub-GHz LPWAN network coexistence, management and virtualization : an overview and open research challenges

The IoT domain is characterized by many applications that require low-bandwidth communications over a long range, at a low cost and at low power. Low power wide area networks (LPWANs) fulfill these requirements by using sub-GHz radio frequencies (typically 433 or 868 MHz) with typical transmission ranges in the order of 1 up to 50 km. As a result, a single base station can cover large areas and can support high numbers of connected devices (> 1000 per base station). Notorious initiatives in this domain are LoRa, Sigfox and the upcoming IEEE 802.11ah (or "HaLow") standard. Although these new technologies have the potential to significantly impact many IoT deployments, the current market is very fragmented and many challenges exists related to deployment, scalability, management and coexistence aspects, making adoption of these technologies difficult for many companies. To remedy this, this paper proposes a conceptual framework to improve the performance of LPWAN networks through in-network optimization, cross-technology coexistence and cooperation and virtualization of management functions. In addition, the paper gives an overview of state of the art solutions and identifies open challenges for each of these aspects

Spectrum utilization using game theory

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Spectrum utilization is the most recent communications issue which takes great deal of attention from communication researchers where most of the efforts have been dedicated for spectral efficient utilization. Spectrum sharing is one of the solutions considered in the problem of lack of available frequency for new communication services which are unlicensed. In this work we propose an optimal method for spectrum utilization to increase spectral efficiency. It considers the problem of spectrum holes found in Primary User's (PU) band and detected using one of the spectral sensing methods. The solution is formulated with the help of Game theory approach in such a way that the primary user who has unoccupied frequency can share it with a group of secondary users (SU) in a competitive way. One of the SUs will be a secondary primary user (SPU), share available frequency from PU then offer his sharing to serve other SUs in different rate of sharing. Each user in the group of secondary users has a chance to be secondary primary user depending on reputation of each SU. Enhancing reputation is the only way for any SU to assure a share in the spectrum where it considered the factor of increasing or decreasing rate of sharing as well as factor of being SPU or an ordinary SU. A theoretical non-cooperative game model is introduced in a comparison with a proposed non-dynamic technique which depends on number of subscribers who occupy frequency in each time period. Multi-users compete on sharing the frequency from one of the users who offers sharing at a time when he has low number of subscribers that occupy his band. It is found that non-dynamic sharing results in inefficient spectrum utilization which is one of the reasons of spectrum scarcity where this resource is allocated in fixed way. Spectrum sharing using game theory solves this problem by its ability to make users compete to gain highest rate of spectrum allocation according to the real requirement of each user at each time interval. The problem of urgent case is also discussed when the primary user comes back to using his band which is the specific band of sharing with the secondary users group. SPU makes it easy to unload the required band from multi-users because PU does not need to request his band from each SU in the group

Electric Vehicle Charging Modes, Technologies and Applications of Smart Charging

The rise of the intelligent, local charging facilitation and environmentally friendly aspects of electric vehicles (EVs) has grabbed the attention of many end-users. However, there are still numerous challenges faced by researchers trying to put EVs into competition with internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). The major challenge in EVs is quick recharging and the selection of an optimal charging station. In this paper, we present the most recent research on EV charging management systems and their role in smart cities. EV charging can be done either in parking mode or on-the-move mode. This review work is novel due to many factors, such as that it focuses on discussing centralized and distributed charging management techniques supported by a communication framework for the selection of an appropriate charging station (CS). Similarly, the selection of CS is evaluated on the basis of battery charging as well as battery swapping services. This review also covered plug-in charging technologies including residential, public and ultra-fast charging technologies and also discusses the major components and architecture of EVs involved in charging. In a comprehensive and detailed manner, the applications and challenges in different charging modes, CS selection, and future work have been discussed. This is the first attempt of its kind, we did not find a survey on the charging hierarchy of EVs, their architecture, or their applications in smart cities

Enabling Technology in Optical Fiber Communications: From Device, System to Networking

This book explores the enabling technology in optical fiber communications. It focuses on the state-of-the-art advances from fundamental theories, devices, and subsystems to networking applications as well as future perspectives of optical fiber communications. The topics cover include integrated photonics, fiber optics, fiber and free-space optical communications, and optical networking

A Survey on WSN and MCN Convergence Networks, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2020, nr 1

In this paper, we present a survey concerned with research focusing on the convergence of wireless sensor networks (WSN) and mobile cellular networks (MCN). The convergence of WSNs and MCNs may be a trigger stimulating new research dealing with such issues as architecture, protocols and air interfaces. The highlights and constraints of the phenomenon are discussed in this paper as well. The survey deals with convergence networks and with their smarty city applications. A few open research issues are also brought to the attention of researchers specializing in this fiel

Design of indoor communication infrastructure for ultra-high capacity next generation wireless services

The proliferation of data hungry wireless devices, such as smart phones and intelligent sensing networks, is pushing modern wireless networks to their limits. A significant shortfall in the ability of networks to meet demand for data is imminent. This thesis addresses this problem through examining the design of distributed antenna systems (DAS) to support next generation high speed wireless services that require high densities of access points and must support multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) protocols. First, it is shown that fibre links in DAS can be replaced with low-cost, broadband free-space optical links, termed radio over free-space optics (RoFSO) links. RoFSO links enable the implementation of very high density DAS without the need for prohibitively expensive cabling infrastructure. A 16m RoFSO link requiring only manual alignment is experimentally demonstrated to provide a spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) of > 100dB/Hz^2/3 over a frequency range from 300MHz- 3.1GHz. The link is measured to have an 802.11g EVM dynamic range of 36dB. This is the first such demonstration of a low-cost broadband RoFSO system. Following this, the linearity performance of RoFSO links is examined. Because of the high loss nature of RoFSO links, the directly-modulated semiconductor lasers they use are susceptible to high-order nonlinear behaviour, which abruptly limits performance at high powers. Existing measures of dynamic range, such as SFDR, assume only third-order nonlinearity and so become inaccurate in the presence of dominant high-order effects. An alternative measure of dynamic range called dynamic-distortion-free dynamic range (DDFDR) is then proposed. For two different wireless services it is observed experimentally that on average the DDFDR upper limit predicts the EVM knee point to within 1dB, while the third-order SFDR predicts it to within 6dB. This is the first detailed analysis of high-order distortion effects in lossy analogue optical links and DDFDR is the first metric able to usefully quantify such behaviour. Next, the combination of emerging MIMO wireless protocols with existing DAS is examined. It is demonstrated for the first time that for small numbers of MIMO streams (up to ~4), the capacity benefits of MIMO can be attained in existing DAS installations simply by sending the different MIMO spatial streams to spatially separated remote antenna units (RAU). This is in contrast to the prevailing paradigm of replicating each MIMO spatial stream at each RAU. Experimental results for two representative DAS layouts show that replicating spatial streams provides an increase of only ~1% in the median channel capacity over merely distributing them. This compares to a 3-4% increase of both strategies over traditional non-DAS MIMO. This result is shown to hold in the multiple user case with 20 users accessing 3 base stations. It is concluded that existing DAS installations offer negligible capacity penalty for MIMO services for small numbers of spatial streams, including in multi-user MIMO scenarios. Finally, the design of DAS to support emerging wireless protocols, such as 802.11ac, that have large numbers of MIMO streams (4-8) is considered. In such cases, capacity is best enhanced by sending multiple MIMO streams to single remote locations. This is achieved using a novel holographic mode division multiplexing (MDM) system, which sends each separate MIMO stream via a different propagation mode in a multimode fibre. Combined channel measurements over 2km of mode-multiplexed MMF and a typical indoor radio environment show in principle a 2x2 MIMO link providing capacities of 10bit/s/Hz over a bandwidth of 6GHz. Using a second experimental set-up it is shown that the system could feasibly support at least up to a 4x4 MIMO system over 2km of MMF with a condition number >15dB over a bandwidth of 3GHz, indicating a high degree of separability of the channels. Finally, it is shown experimentally that when a fibre contains sharp bends (radius between 20mm and 7.2mm) the first 6 mode-groups used for multiplexing exhibit no additional power loss or cross-coupling compared with unbent fibre, although mode-groups 7, 8 and 9 are more severely affected. This indicates that at least 6x6 multiplexing is possible in standard installations with tight fibre bends.For their financial support, I would like to thank the Rutherford Foundation of the Royal Society of New Zealand, the Cambridge Commonwealth Trust and the EPSRC