Device-to-Device Communication and Multihop Transmission for Future Cellular Networks

The next generation wireless networks i.e. 5G aim to provide multi-Gbps data traffic, in order to satisfy the increasing demand for high-definition video, among other high data rate services, as well as the exponential growth in mobile subscribers. To achieve this dramatic increase in data rates, current research is focused on improving the capacity of current 4G network standards, based on Long Term Evolution (LTE), before radical changes are exploited which could include acquiring additional/new spectrum. The LTE network has a reuse factor of one; hence neighbouring cells/sectors use the same spectrum, therefore making the cell edge users vulnerable to inter-cell interference. In addition, wireless transmission is commonly hindered by fading and pathloss. In this direction, this thesis focuses on improving the performance of cell edge users in LTE and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) networks by initially implementing a new Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) algorithm to mitigate cell edge user interference. Subsequently Device-to-Device (D2D) communication is investigated as the enabling technology for maximising Resource Block (RB) utilisation in current 4G and emerging 5G networks. It is demonstrated that the application, as an extension to the above, of novel power control algorithms, to reduce the required D2D TX power, and multihop transmission for relaying D2D traffic, can further enhance network performance. To be able to develop the aforementioned technologies and evaluate the performance of new algorithms in emerging network scenarios, a beyond-the-state-of-the-art LTE system-level simulator (SLS) was implemented. The new simulator includes Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) antenna functionalities, comprehensive channel models (such as Wireless World initiative New Radio II i.e. WINNER II) and adaptive modulation and coding schemes to accurately emulate the LTE and LTE-A network standards. Additionally, a novel interference modelling scheme using the ‘wrap around’ technique was proposed and implemented that maintained the topology of flat surfaced maps, allowing for use with cell planning tools while obtaining accurate and timely results in the SLS compared to the few existing platforms. For the proposed CoMP algorithm, the adaptive beamforming technique was employed to reduce interference on the cell edge UEs by applying Coordinated Scheduling (CoSH) between cooperating cells. Simulation results show up to 2-fold improvement in terms of throughput, and also shows SINR gain for the cell edge UEs in the cooperating cells. Furthermore, D2D communication underlaying the LTE network (and future generation of wireless networks) was investigated. The technology exploits the proximity of users in a network to achieve higher data rates with maximum RB utilisation (as the technology reuses the cellular RB simultaneously), while taking some load off the Evolved Node B (eNB) i.e. by direct communication between User Equipment (UE). Simulation results show that the proximity and transmission power of D2D transmission yields high performance gains for a D2D receiver, which was demonstrated to be better than that of cellular UEs with better channel conditions or in close proximity to the eNB in the network. The impact of interference from the simultaneous transmission however impedes the achievable data rates of cellular UEs in the network, especially at the cell edge. Thus, a power control algorithm was proposed to mitigate the impact of interference in the hybrid network (network consisting of both cellular and D2D UEs). It was implemented by setting a minimum SINR threshold so that the cellular UEs achieve a minimum performance, and equally a maximum SINR threshold to establish fairness for the D2D transmission as well. Simulation results show an increase in the cell edge throughput and notable improvement in the overall SINR distribution of UEs in the hybrid network. Additionally, multihop transmission for D2D UEs was investigated in the hybrid network: traditionally, the scheme is implemented to relay cellular traffic in a homogenous network. Contrary to most current studies where D2D UEs are employed to relay cellular traffic, the use of idle nodes to relay D2D traffic was implemented uniquely in this thesis. Simulation results show improvement in D2D receiver throughput with multihop transmission, which was significantly better than that of the same UEs performance with equivalent distance between the D2D pair when using single hop transmission

Cross layer routing and scheduling for multi-channel Wimax mesh networks

Broadband wireless networks are becoming increasingly popular due to their fast and inexpensive deployment and their capabilities of providing flexible and ubiquitous Internet access. Due to the limitation of shared resources in wireless mesh network such as bandwidth, spatial reuse is introduced for concurrent transmissions. The simultaneous transmissions face many challenges regarding interference on the ongoing transmission. To maximize the network performance of mesh networks in terms of spatial reuse, it is essential to consider a cross-layer for resource allocation in different layers such as the routing network layer, the scheduling resource allocation Media Access Control (MAC) layer and physical layer. Therefore, this thesis focuses on improving the spatial reuse for resource allocation mechanism including routing tree construction by taking into consideration the reliable path, channel assignment and scheduling algorithms. Firstly, a Fuzzy based Constructed Routing Tree (FLCRT) is proposed to incorporate fuzzy logic with routing to enable cognitive capability in packet forwarding for uplink or downlink communication. Secondly, the link-aware routing path is proposed to satisfy the connection lifetime and better routing stability for successful requirements of transmission using multi sponsor node technique. Then, a better understanding of reliability analysis is pursued in the context of homogeneous wireless network. Ultimately, heuristic resource allocation including channel assignment and centralized scheduling algorithms are proposed based on the cellular learning automata to enhance the number of concurrent transmissions in the network by efficiently reusing the spectrum spatially. The attempt of heuristic resource allocation algorithms is to find the maximal number of nodes that could transmit data concurrently. The numerical and simulation results show that FLCRT, Learning Automata Heuristic Channel Assignment (LAHCA), and Learning Automata Heuristic Centralized Scheduling (LAHCS) perform better in terms of scheduling length, channel utilization ratio, and average transmission delay as compared with the existing approaches. The proposed FLCRT scheme with respect to the number of subscriber station (SS) nodes performs better in decreasing the scheduling length, average transmission delay, and channel utilization ratio by 38%, 19%, and 38% compared with Interference-Load-Aware routing. LAHCA algorithm improves the number of channels in comparison with random selection algorithm by 8%. LAHCS algorithm using multi channels proposed by LAHCA can reduce the scheduling time, average transmission delay as well as enhance channel utilization ratio versus number of SS nodes by 7%, 8%, and 6% respectively compared with Nearest algorithm in higher traffic demands

Relay Technologies in IEEE 802.16j Mobile Multi-hop Relay (MMR) Networks

IEEE 802.16 standard is created to compete with cable access networks. In the beginning end users are immobile and have a line of sight with base station, now it moved to mobile non line of sight (NLOS) with the new standard IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.16j. The new IEEE 802.16j standard which is an amendment to IEEE 802.16e is mobile multi hop relay (MMR) specification for wireless networks. This paper discusses relay modes, relay transmission schemes and relay pairing schemes of IEEE 802.16j. Relay technologies such as transparent relay modes, non transparent relay mode, relay pairing schemes such as centralized relay pairing schemes, distributed relay pairing scheme, characterises of relay based networks such as throughput enhancement, capacity increase, cost reduction , relay techniques such as time domain frequency domain relay techniques and relay placement are also discussed in this paper. The paper also discusses about integration of IEEE 802.16j with IEEE 802.11. Keywords: IEEE 802.16j, Relay pairing schemes, relay techniques, Relay modes, WIMAX, NCTUns, et

Joint relay selection and bandwidth allocation for cooperative relay network

Cooperative communication that exploits multiple relay links offers significant performance improvement in terms of coverage and capacity for mobile data subscribers in hierarchical cellular network. Since cooperative communication utilizes multiple relay links, complexity of the network is increased due to the needs for efficient resource allocation. Besides, usage of multiple relay links leads to Inter- Cell Interference (ICI). The main objective of this thesis is to develop efficient resource allocation scheme minimizes the effect of ICI in cooperative relay network. The work proposed a joint relay selection and bandwidth allocation in cooperative relay network that ensures high achievable data rate with high user satisfaction and low outage percentage. Two types of network models are considered: single cell network and multicell network. Joint Relay Selection and Bandwidth Allocation with Spatial Reuse (JReSBA_SR) and Optimized JReSBA_SR (O_JReSBA_SR) are developed for single cell network. JReSBA_SR considers link quality and user demand for resource allocation, and is equipped with spatial reuse to support higher network load. O_JReSBA_SR is an enhancement of JReSBA_SR with decision strategy based on Markov optimization. In multicell network, JReSBA with Interference Mitigation (JReSBA_IM) and Optimized JReSBA_IM (O_JReSBA_IM) are developed. JReSBA_IM deploys sectored-Fractional Frequency Reuse (sectored- FFR) partitioning concept in order to minimize the effect of ICI between adjacent cells. The performance is evaluated in terms of cell achievable rate, Outage Percentage (OP) and Satisfaction Index (SI). The result for single cell network shows that JReSBA_SR has notably improved the cell achievable rate by 35.0%, with reduced OP by 17.7% compared to non-joint scheme at the expense of slight increase in complexity at Relay Node (RN). O_JReSBA_SR has further improved the cell achievable rate by 13.9% while maintaining the outage performance with reduced complexity compared to JReSBA_SR due to the effect of optimization. The result for multicell network shows that JReSBA_IM enhances the cell achievable rate up to 65.1% and reduces OP by 35.0% as compared to benchmark scheme. Similarly, O_JReSBA_IM has significantly reduced the RN complexity of JReSBA_IM scheme, improved the cell achievable rate up to 9.3% and reduced OP by 1.3%. The proposed joint resource allocation has significantly enhanced the network performance through spatial frequency reuse, efficient, fair and optimized resource allocation. The proposed resource allocation is adaptable to variation of network load and can be used in any multihop cellular network such as Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) network

Millimeter Wave Cellular Networks: A MAC Layer Perspective

The millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency band is seen as a key enabler of multi-gigabit wireless access in future cellular networks. In order to overcome the propagation challenges, mmWave systems use a large number of antenna elements both at the base station and at the user equipment, which lead to high directivity gains, fully-directional communications, and possible noise-limited operations. The fundamental differences between mmWave networks and traditional ones challenge the classical design constraints, objectives, and available degrees of freedom. This paper addresses the implications that highly directional communication has on the design of an efficient medium access control (MAC) layer. The paper discusses key MAC layer issues, such as synchronization, random access, handover, channelization, interference management, scheduling, and association. The paper provides an integrated view on MAC layer issues for cellular networks, identifies new challenges and tradeoffs, and provides novel insights and solution approaches.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, to appear in IEEE Transactions on Communication