13,237 research outputs found
Autonomous Accident Monitoring Using Cellular Network Data
Mobile communication networks constitute large-scale sensor networks that generate huge amounts of data that can be refined into collective mobility patterns. In this paper we propose a method for using these patterns to autonomously monitor and detect accidents and other critical events. The approach is to identify a measure that is approximately time-invariant on short time-scales under regular conditions, estimate the short and long-term dynamics of this measure using Bayesian inference, and identify sudden shifts in mobility patterns by monitoring the divergence between the short and long-term estimates. By estimating long-term dynamics, the method is also able to adapt to long-term trends in data. As a proof-of-concept, we apply this approach in a vehicular traffic scenario, where we demonstrate that the method can detect traffic accidents and distinguish these from regular events, such as traffic congestions
Fixed Rank Kriging for Cellular Coverage Analysis
Coverage planning and optimization is one of the most crucial tasks for a
radio network operator. Efficient coverage optimization requires accurate
coverage estimation. This estimation relies on geo-located field measurements
which are gathered today during highly expensive drive tests (DT); and will be
reported in the near future by users' mobile devices thanks to the 3GPP
Minimizing Drive Tests (MDT) feature~\cite{3GPPproposal}. This feature consists
in an automatic reporting of the radio measurements associated with the
geographic location of the user's mobile device. Such a solution is still
costly in terms of battery consumption and signaling overhead. Therefore,
predicting the coverage on a location where no measurements are available
remains a key and challenging task. This paper describes a powerful tool that
gives an accurate coverage prediction on the whole area of interest: it builds
a coverage map by spatially interpolating geo-located measurements using the
Kriging technique. The paper focuses on the reduction of the computational
complexity of the Kriging algorithm by applying Fixed Rank Kriging (FRK). The
performance evaluation of the FRK algorithm both on simulated measurements and
real field measurements shows a good trade-off between prediction efficiency
and computational complexity. In order to go a step further towards the
operational application of the proposed algorithm, a multicellular use-case is
studied. Simulation results show a good performance in terms of coverage
prediction and detection of the best serving cell
Contextual Beamforming: Exploiting Location and AI for Enhanced Wireless Telecommunication Performance
The pervasive nature of wireless telecommunication has made it the foundation
for mainstream technologies like automation, smart vehicles, virtual reality,
and unmanned aerial vehicles. As these technologies experience widespread
adoption in our daily lives, ensuring the reliable performance of cellular
networks in mobile scenarios has become a paramount challenge. Beamforming, an
integral component of modern mobile networks, enables spatial selectivity and
improves network quality. However, many beamforming techniques are iterative,
introducing unwanted latency to the system. In recent times, there has been a
growing interest in leveraging mobile users' location information to expedite
beamforming processes. This paper explores the concept of contextual
beamforming, discussing its advantages, disadvantages and implications.
Notably, the study presents an impressive 53% improvement in signal-to-noise
ratio (SNR) by implementing the adaptive beamforming (MRT) algorithm compared
to scenarios without beamforming. It further elucidates how MRT contributes to
contextual beamforming. The importance of localization in implementing
contextual beamforming is also examined. Additionally, the paper delves into
the use of artificial intelligence schemes, including machine learning and deep
learning, in implementing contextual beamforming techniques that leverage user
location information. Based on the comprehensive review, the results suggest
that the combination of MRT and Zero forcing (ZF) techniques, alongside deep
neural networks (DNN) employing Bayesian Optimization (BO), represents the most
promising approach for contextual beamforming. Furthermore, the study discusses
the future potential of programmable switches, such as Tofino, in enabling
location-aware beamforming
Machine Learning at the Edge: A Data-Driven Architecture with Applications to 5G Cellular Networks
The fifth generation of cellular networks (5G) will rely on edge cloud
deployments to satisfy the ultra-low latency demand of future applications. In
this paper, we argue that such deployments can also be used to enable advanced
data-driven and Machine Learning (ML) applications in mobile networks. We
propose an edge-controller-based architecture for cellular networks and
evaluate its performance with real data from hundreds of base stations of a
major U.S. operator. In this regard, we will provide insights on how to
dynamically cluster and associate base stations and controllers, according to
the global mobility patterns of the users. Then, we will describe how the
controllers can be used to run ML algorithms to predict the number of users in
each base station, and a use case in which these predictions are exploited by a
higher-layer application to route vehicular traffic according to network Key
Performance Indicators (KPIs). We show that the prediction accuracy improves
when based on machine learning algorithms that rely on the controllers' view
and, consequently, on the spatial correlation introduced by the user mobility,
with respect to when the prediction is based only on the local data of each
single base station.Comment: 15 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables. IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computin
A survey of machine learning techniques applied to self organizing cellular networks
In this paper, a survey of the literature of the past fifteen years involving Machine Learning (ML) algorithms applied to self organizing cellular networks is performed. In order for future networks to overcome the current limitations and address the issues of current cellular systems, it is clear that more intelligence needs to be deployed, so that a fully autonomous and flexible network can be enabled. This paper focuses on the learning perspective of Self Organizing Networks (SON) solutions and provides, not only an overview of the most common ML techniques encountered in cellular networks, but also manages to classify each paper in terms of its learning solution, while also giving some examples. The authors also classify each paper in terms of its self-organizing use-case and discuss how each proposed solution performed. In addition, a comparison between the most commonly found ML algorithms in terms of certain SON metrics is performed and general guidelines on when to choose each ML algorithm for each SON function are proposed. Lastly, this work also provides future research directions and new paradigms that the use of more robust and intelligent algorithms, together with data gathered by operators, can bring to the cellular networks domain and fully enable the concept of SON in the near future
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