LTE Optimization and Resource Management in Wireless Heterogeneous Networks

Mobile communication technology is evolving with a great pace. The development of the Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile system by 3GPP is one of the milestones in this direction. This work highlights a few areas in the LTE radio access network where the proposed innovative mechanisms can substantially improve overall LTE system performance. In order to further extend the capacity of LTE networks, an integration with the non-3GPP networks (e.g., WLAN, WiMAX etc.) is also proposed in this work. Moreover, it is discussed how bandwidth resources should be managed in such heterogeneous networks. The work has purposed a comprehensive system architecture as an overlay of the 3GPP defined SAE architecture, effective resource management mechanisms as well as a Linear Programming based analytical solution for the optimal network resource allocation problem. In addition, alternative computationally efficient heuristic based algorithms have also been designed to achieve near-optimal performance

Quality of service and dependability of cellular vehicular communication networks

Improving the dependability of mobile network applications is a complicated task for many reasons: Especially in Germany, the development of cellular infrastructure has not always been fast enough to keep up with the growing demand, resulting in many blind spots that cause communication outages. However, even when the infrastructure is available, the mobility of the users still poses a major challenge when it comes to the dependability of applications: As the user moves, the capacity of the channel can experience major changes. This can mean that applications like adjustable bitrate video streaming cannot infer future performance by analyzing past download rates, as it will only have old information about the data rate at a different location. In this work, we explore the use of 4G LTE for dependable communication in mobile vehicular scenarios. For this, we first look at the performance of LTE, especially in mobile environments, and how it has developed over time. We compare measurements performed several years apart and look at performance differences in urban and rural areas. We find that even though the continued development of the 4G standard has enabled better performance in theory, this has not always been reflected in real-life performance due to the slow development of infrastructure, especially along highways. We also explore the possibility of performance prediction in LTE networks without the need to perform active measurements. For this, we look at the relationship between the measured signal quality and the achievable data rates and latencies. We find that while there is a strong correlation between some of the signal quality indicators and the achievable data rates, the relationship between them is stochastic, i.e., a higher signal quality makes better performance more probable but does not guarantee it. We then use our empirical measurement results as a basis for a model that uses signal quality measurements to predict a throughput distribution. The resulting estimate of the obtainable throughput can then be used in adjustable bitrate applications like video streaming to improve their dependability. Mobile networks also task TCP congestion control algorithms with a new challenge: Usually, senders use TCP congestion control to avoid causing congestion in the network by sending too many packets and so that the network bandwidth is divided fairly. This can be a challenging task since it is not known how many senders are in the network, and the network load can change at any time. In mobile vehicular networks, TCP congestion control is confronted with the additional problem of a constantly changing capacity: As users change their location, the quality of the channel also changes, and the capacity of the channel can experience drastic reductions even when the difference of location is very small. Additionally, in our measurements, we have observed that packet losses only rarely occur (and instead, packets are delayed and retransmitted), meaning that loss-based algorithms like Reno or CUBIC can be at a significant disadvantage. In this thesis, we compare several popular congestion control algorithms in both stationary and mobile scenarios. We find that many loss-based algorithms tend to cause bufferbloat and thus overly increase delays. At the same time, many delay-based algorithms tend to underestimate the network capacity and thus achieve data rates that are too low. The algorithm that performed the best in our measurements was TCP BBR, as it was able to utilize the full capacity of the channel without causing bufferbloat and also react to changes in capacity by adjusting its window. However, since TCP BBR can be unfair towards other algorithms in wired networks, its use could be problematic. Finally, we also propose how our model for data rate prediction can be used to improve the dependability of mobile video streaming. For this, we develop an algorithm for adaptive bitrate streaming that provides a guarantee that the video freeze probability does not exceed a certain pre-selected upper threshold. For the algorithm to work, it needs to know the distribution of obtainable throughput. We use a simulation to verify the function of this algorithm using a distribution obtained through the previously proposed data rate prediction algorithm. In our simulation, the algorithm limited the video freeze probability as intended. However, it did so at the cost of frequent switches of video bitrate, which can diminish the quality of user experience. In future work, we want to explore the possibility of different algorithms that offer a trade-off between the video freeze probability and the frequency of bitrate switches.Die Verbesserung der Zuverlässigkeit von mobilen Netzwerk-basierten Anwendungen ist aus vielen Gründen eine komplizierte Aufgabe: Vor allem in Deutschland war die Entwicklung der Mobilfunkinfrastruktur nicht immer schnell genug, um mit der wachsenden Nachfrage Schritt zu halten. Es gibt immer noch viele Funklöchern, die für Kommunikationsausfälle verantwortlich sind. Aber auch an Orten, an denen Infrastruktur ausreichend vorhanden ist, stellt die Mobilität der Nutzer eine große Herausforderung für die Zuverlässigkeit der Anwendungen dar: Wenn sich der Nutzer bewegt, kann sich die Kapazität des Kanals stark verändern. Dies kann dazu führen, dass Anwendungen wie Videostreaming mit einstellbarer Bitrate die in der Vergangenheit erreichten Downloadraten nicht zur Vorhersage der zukünftigen Leistung nutzen können, da diese nur alte Informationen über die Datenraten an einem anderen Standort enthalten. In dieser Arbeit untersuchen wir die Nutzung von 4G LTE für zuverlässige Kommunikation in mobilen Fahrzeugszenarien. Zu diesem Zweck untersuchen wir zunächst die Leistung von LTE, insbesondere in mobilen Umgebungen, und wie sie sich im Laufe der Zeit entwickelt hat. Wir vergleichen Messungen, die in einem zeitlichen Abstand von mehreren Jahren durchgeführt wurden, und untersuchen Leistungsunterschiede in städtischen und ländlichen Gebieten. Wir stellen fest, dass die kontinuierliche Weiterentwicklung des 4G-Standards zwar theoretisch eine bessere Leistung ermöglicht hat, dass sich dies aber aufgrund des langsamen Ausbaus der Infrastruktur, insbesondere entlang von Autobahnen, nicht immer in der Praxis bemerkbar gemacht hat. Wir untersuchen auch die Möglichkeit der Leistungsvorhersage in LTE-Netzen, ohne aktive Messungen durchführen zu müssen. Zu diesem Zweck untersuchen wir die Beziehung zwischen der gemessenen Signalqualität und den erreichbaren Datenraten und Latenzzeiten. Wir stellen fest, dass es zwar eine starke Korrelation zwischen einigen der Signalqualitätsindikatoren und den erreichbaren Datenraten gibt, die Beziehung zwischen ihnen aber stochastisch ist, d. h. eine höhere Signalqualität macht eine bessere Leistung zwar wahrscheinlicher, garantiert sie aber nicht. Wir verwenden dann unsere empirischen Messergebnisse als Grundlage für ein Modell, das die Signalqualitätsmessungen zur Vorhersage einer Durchsatzverteilung nutzt. Die sich daraus ergebende Schätzung des erzielbaren Durchsatzes kann dann in Anwendungen mit einstellbarer Bitrate wie Videostreaming verwendet werden, um deren Zuverlässigkeit zu verbessern. Mobile Netze stellen auch TCP Congestion Control Algorithmen vor eine neue Herausforderung: Normalerweise verwenden Sender TCP Congestion Control, um eine Überlastung des Netzes durch das Senden von zu vielen Paketen zu vermeiden, und um die Bandbreite des Netzes gerecht aufzuteilen. Dies kann eine schwierige Aufgabe sein, da es nicht bekannt ist, wie viele Sender sich im Netz befinden, und sich die Netzlast jederzeit ändern kann. In mobilen Fahrzeugnetzen ist TCP Congestion Control mit dem zusätzlichen Problem einer sich ständig ändernden Kapazität konfrontiert: Wenn die Benutzer ihren Standort wechseln, ändert sich auch die Qualität des Kanals, und die Kanalkapazität des Kanals kann drastisch sinken, selbst wenn der Unterschied zwischen den Standorten sehr gering ist. Darüber hinaus haben wir bei unseren Messungen festgestellt, dass Paketverluste nur selten auftreten (stattdessen werden Pakete verzögert und erneut übertragen), was bedeutet, dass verlustbasierte Algorithmen wie Reno oder CUBIC einen großen Nachteil haben können. In dieser Arbeit vergleichen wir mehrere gängige Congestion Control Algorithmen sowohl in stationären als auch in mobilen Szenarien. Wir stellen fest, dass viele verlustbasierte Algorithmen dazu neigen, einen Pufferüberlauf zu verursachen und somit die Latenzen übermäßig erhöhen, während viele latenzbasierte Algorithmen dazu neigen, die Kanalkapazität zu unterschätzen und somit zu niedrige Datenraten erzielen. Der Algorithmus, der bei unseren Messungen am besten abgeschnitten hat, war TCP BBR, da er in der Lage war, die volle Kapazität des Kanals auszunutzen, ohne den Pufferfüllstand übermäßig zu erhöhen. Ebenso hat TCP BBR schnell auf Kapazitätsänderungen reagiert, indem er seine Fenstergröße angepasst hat. Da TCP BBR jedoch in kabelgebundenen Netzen gegenüber anderen Algorithmen unfair sein kann, könnte seine Verwendung problematisch sein. Schließlich schlagen wir auch vor, wie unser Modell zur Vorhersage von Datenraten verwendet werden kann, um die Zuverlässigkeit des mobilen Videostreaming zu verbessern. Dazu entwickeln wir einen Algorithmus für Streaming mit adaptiver Bitrate, der garantiert, dass die Wahrscheinlichkeit des Anhaltens eines Videos eine bestimmte, vorher festgelegte Obergrenze nicht überschreitet. Damit der Algorithmus funktionieren kann, muss er die Verteilung des erreichbaren Durchsatzes kennen. Wir verwenden eine Simulation, um die Funktion dieses Algorithmus zu überprüfen. Hierzu verwenden wir eine Verteilung, die wir durch den zuvor vorgeschlagenen Algorithmus zur Vorhersage von Datenraten erhalten haben. In unserer Simulation begrenzte der Algorithmus die Wahrscheinlichkeit des Anhaltens von Videos wie beabsichtigt, allerdings um den Preis eines häufigen Wechsels der Videobitrate, was die Qualität der Benutzererfahrung beeinträchtigen kann. In zukünftigen Arbeiten wollen wir die Möglichkeit verschiedener Algorithmen untersuchen, die einen Kompromiss zwischen der Wahrscheinlichkeit des Anhaltens des Videos und der Häufigkeit der Bitratenwechsel bieten

Optimization of 5G Second Phase Heterogeneous Radio Access Networks with Small Cells

Due to the exponential increase in high data-demanding applications and their services per coverage area, it is becoming challenging for the existing cellular network to handle the massive sum of users with their demands. It is conceded to network operators that the current wireless network may not be capable to shelter future traffic demands. To overcome the challenges the operators are taking interest in efficiently deploying the heterogeneous network. Currently, 5G is in the commercialization phase. Network evolution with addition of small cells will develop the existing wireless network with its enriched capabilities and innovative features. Presently, the 5G global standardization has introduced the 5G New Radio (NR) under the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It can support a wide range of frequency bands (<6 GHz to 100 GHz). For different trends and verticals, 5G NR encounters, functional splitting and its cost evaluation are well-thought-out. The aspects of network slicing to the assessment of the business opportunities and allied standardization endeavours are illustrated. The study explores the carrier aggregation (Pico cellular) technique for 4G to bring high spectral efficiency with the support of small cell massification while benefiting from statistical multiplexing gain. One has been able to obtain values for the goodput considering CA in LTE-Sim (4G), of 40 Mbps for a cell radius of 500 m and of 29 Mbps for a cell radius of 50 m, which is 3 times higher than without CA scenario (2.6 GHz plus 3.5 GHz frequency bands). Heterogeneous networks have been under investigation for many years. Heterogeneous network can improve users service quality and resource utilization compared to homogeneous networks. Quality of service can be enhanced by putting the small cells (Femtocells or Picocells) inside the Microcells or Macrocells coverage area. Deploying indoor Femtocells for 5G inside the Macro cellular network can reduce the network cost. Some service providers have started their solutions for indoor users but there are still many challenges to be addressed. The 5G air-simulator is updated to deploy indoor Femto-cell with proposed assumptions with uniform distribution. For all the possible combinations of apartments side length and transmitter power, the maximum number of supported numbers surpassed the number of users by more than two times compared to papers mentioned in the literature. Within outdoor environments, this study also proposed small cells optimization by putting the Pico cells within a Macro cell to obtain low latency and high data rate with the statistical multiplexing gain of the associated users. Results are presented 5G NR functional split six and split seven, for three frequency bands (2.6 GHz, 3.5GHz and 5.62 GHz). Based on the analysis for shorter radius values, the best is to select the 2.6 GHz to achieve lower PLR and to support a higher number of users, with better goodput, and higher profit (for cell radius u to 400 m). In 4G, with CA, from the analysis of the economic trade-off with Picocell, the Enhanced multi-band scheduler EMBS provide higher revenue, compared to those without CA. It is clearly shown that the profit of CA is more than 4 times than in the without CA scenario. This means that the slight increase in the cost of CA gives back more than 4-time profit relatively to the ”without” CA scenario.Devido ao aumento exponencial de aplicações/serviços de elevado débito por unidade de área, torna-se bastante exigente, para a rede celular existente, lidar com a enormes quantidades de utilizadores e seus requisitos. É reconhecido que as redes móveis e sem fios atuais podem não conseguir suportar a procura de tráfego junto dos operadores. Para responder a estes desafios, os operadores estão-se a interessar pelo desenvolvimento de redes heterogéneas eficientes. Atualmente, a 5G está na fase de comercialização. A evolução destas redes concretizar-se-á com a introdução de pequenas células com aptidões melhoradas e características inovadoras. No presente, os organismos de normalização da 5G globais introduziram os Novos Rádios (NR) 5G no contexto do 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). A 5G pode suportar uma gama alargada de bandas de frequência (<6 a 100 GHz). Abordam-se as divisões funcionais e avaliam-se os seus custos para as diferentes tendências e verticais dos NR 5G. Ilustram-se desde os aspetos de particionamento funcional da rede à avaliação das oportunidades de negócio, aliadas aos esforços de normalização. Exploram-se as técnicas de agregação de espetro (do inglês, CA) para pico células, em 4G, a disponibilização de eficiência espetral, com o suporte da massificação de pequenas células, e o ganho de multiplexagem estatística associado. Obtiveram-se valores do débito binário útil, considerando CA no LTE-Sim (4G), de 40 e 29 Mb/s para células de raios 500 e 50 m, respetivamente, três vezes superiores em relação ao caso sem CA (bandas de 2.6 mais 3.5 GHz). Nas redes heterogéneas, alvo de investigação há vários anos, a qualidade de serviço e a utilização de recursos podem ser melhoradas colocando pequenas células (femto- ou pico-células) dentro da área de cobertura de micro- ou macro-células). O desenvolvimento de pequenas células 5G dentro da rede com macro-células pode reduzir os custos da rede. Alguns prestadores de serviços iniciaram as suas soluções para ambientes de interior, mas ainda existem muitos desafios a ser ultrapassados. Atualizou-se o 5G air simulator para representar a implantação de femto-células de interior com os pressupostos propostos e distribuição espacial uniforme. Para todas as combinações possíveis do comprimento lado do apartamento, o número máximo de utilizadores suportado ultrapassou o número de utilizadores suportado (na literatura) em mais de duas vezes. Em ambientes de exterior, propuseram-se pico-células no interior de macro-células, de forma a obter atraso extremo-a-extremo reduzido e taxa de transmissão dados elevada, resultante do ganho de multiplexagem estatística associado. Apresentam-se resultados para as divisões funcionais seis e sete dos NR 5G, para 2.6 GHz, 3.5GHz e 5.62 GHz. Para raios das células curtos, a melhor solução será selecionar a banda dos 2.6 GHz para alcançar PLR (do inglês, PLR) reduzido e suportar um maior número de utilizadores, com débito binário útil e lucro mais elevados (para raios das células até 400 m). Em 4G, com CA, da análise do equilíbrio custos-proveitos com pico-células, o escalonamento multi-banda EMBS (do inglês, Enhanced Multi-band Scheduler) disponibiliza proveitos superiores em comparação com o caso sem CA. Mostra-se claramente que lucro com CA é mais de quatro vezes superior do que no cenário sem CA, o que significa que um aumento ligeiro no custo com CA resulta num aumento de 4-vezes no lucro relativamente ao cenário sem CA

Eficiência energética avançada para sistema OFDMA CoMP coordenação multiponto

Doutoramento em Engenharia EletrotécnicaThe ever-growing energy consumption in mobile networks stimulated by the expected growth in data tra ffic has provided the impetus for mobile operators to refocus network design, planning and deployment towards reducing the cost per bit, whilst at the same time providing a signifi cant step towards reducing their operational expenditure. As a step towards incorporating cost-eff ective mobile system, 3GPP LTE-Advanced has adopted the coordinated multi-point (CoMP) transmission technique due to its ability to mitigate and manage inter-cell interference (ICI). Using CoMP the cell average and cell edge throughput are boosted. However, there is room for reducing energy consumption further by exploiting the inherent exibility of dynamic resource allocation protocols. To this end packet scheduler plays the central role in determining the overall performance of the 3GPP longterm evolution (LTE) based on packet-switching operation and provide a potential research playground for optimizing energy consumption in future networks. In this thesis we investigate the baseline performance for down link CoMP using traditional scheduling approaches, and subsequently go beyond and propose novel energy e fficient scheduling (EES) strategies that can achieve power-e fficient transmission to the UEs whilst enabling both system energy effi ciency gain and fairness improvement. However, ICI can still be prominent when multiple nodes use common resources with di fferent power levels inside the cell, as in the so called heterogeneous networks (Het- Net) environment. HetNets are comprised of two or more tiers of cells. The rst, or higher tier, is a traditional deployment of cell sites, often referred to in this context as macrocells. The lower tiers are termed small cells, and can appear as microcell, picocells or femtocells. The HetNet has attracted signiffi cant interest by key manufacturers as one of the enablers for high speed data at low cost. Research until now has revealed several key hurdles that must be overcome before HetNets can achieve their full potential: bottlenecks in the backhaul must be alleviated, as well as their seamless interworking with CoMP. In this thesis we explore exactly the latter hurdle, and present innovative ideas on advancing CoMP to work in synergy with HetNet deployment, complemented by a novel resource allocation policy for HetNet tighter interference management. As system level simulator has been used to analyze the proposed algorithm/protocols, and results have concluded that up to 20% energy gain can be observed.O aumento do consumo de energia nas TICs e em particular nas redes de comunicação móveis, estimulado por um crescimento esperado do tráfego de dados, tem servido de impulso aos operadores m oveis para reorientarem os seus projectos de rede, planeamento e implementa ção no sentido de reduzir o custo por bit, o que ao mesmo tempo possibilita um passo signicativo no sentido de reduzir as despesas operacionais. Como um passo no sentido de uma incorporação eficaz em termos destes custos, o sistema móvel 3GPP LTE-Advanced adoptou a técnica de transmissão Coordenação Multi-Ponto (identificada na literatura com a sigla CoMP) devido à sua capacidade de mitigar e gerir Interferência entre Células (sigla ICI na literatura). No entanto a ICI pode ainda ser mais proeminente quando v arios n os no interior da célula utilizam recursos comuns com diferentes níveis de energia, como acontece nos chamados ambientes de redes heterogéneas (sigla Het- Net na literatura). As HetNets são constituídas por duas ou mais camadas de células. A primeira, ou camada superiora, constitui uma implantação tradicional de sítios de célula, muitas vezes referidas neste contexto como macrocells. Os níveis mais baixos são designados por células pequenas, e podem aparecer como microcells, picocells ou femtocells. A HetNet tem atra do grande interesse por parte dos principais fabricantes como sendo facilitador para transmissões de dados de alta velocidade a baixo custo. A investigação tem revelado at e a data, vários dos principais obstáculos que devem ser superados para que as HetNets possam atingir todo o seu potencial: (i) os estrangulamentos no backhaul devem ser aliviados; (ii) bem como sua perfeita interoperabilidade com CoMP. Nesta tese exploramos este ultimo constrangimento e apresentamos ideias inovadoras em como a t ecnica CoMP poder a ser aperfeiçoada por forma a trabalhar em sinergia com a implementação da HetNet, complementado ainda com uma nova perspectiva na alocação de recursos rádio para um controlo e gestão mais apertado de interferência nas HetNets. Com recurso a simulação a níível de sistema para analisar o desempenho dos algoritmos e protocolos propostos, os resultados obtidos concluíram que ganhos at e a ordem dos 20% poderão ser atingidos em termos de eficiência energética

Technologies for urban and rural internet of things

Nowadays, application domains such as smart cities, agriculture or intelligent transportation, require communication technologies that combine long transmission ranges and energy efficiency to fulfill a set of capabilities and constraints to rely on. In addition, in recent years, the interest in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) providing wireless connectivity in such scenarios is substantially increased thanks to their flexible deployment. The first chapters of this thesis deal with LoRaWAN and Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT), which recent trends identify as the most promising Low Power Wide Area Networks technologies. While LoRaWAN is an open protocol that has gained a lot of interest thanks to its simplicity and energy efficiency, NB-IoT has been introduced from 3GPP as a radio access technology for massive machine-type communications inheriting legacy LTE characteristics. This thesis offers an overview of the two, comparing them in terms of selected performance indicators. In particular, LoRaWAN technology is assessed both via simulations and experiments, considering different network architectures and solutions to improve its performance (e.g., a new Adaptive Data Rate algorithm). NB-IoT is then introduced to identify which technology is more suitable depending on the application considered. The second part of the thesis introduces the use of UAVs as flying Base Stations, denoted as Unmanned Aerial Base Stations, (UABSs), which are considered as one of the key pillars of 6G to offer service for a number of applications. To this end, the performance of an NB-IoT network are assessed considering a UABS following predefined trajectories. Then, machine learning algorithms based on reinforcement learning and meta-learning are considered to optimize the trajectory as well as the radio resource management techniques the UABS may rely on in order to provide service considering both static (IoT sensors) and dynamic (vehicles) users. Finally, some experimental projects based on the technologies mentioned so far are presented