1,181 research outputs found
Channel Dynamics and SNR Tracking in Millimeter Wave Cellular Systems
The millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies are likely to play a significant
role in fifth-generation (5G) cellular systems. A key challenge in developing
systems in these bands is the potential for rapid channel dynamics: since
mmWave signals are blocked by many materials, small changes in the position or
orientation of the handset relative to objects in the environment can cause
large swings in the channel quality. This paper addresses the issue of tracking
the signal to noise ratio (SNR), which is an essential procedure for rate
prediction, handover and radio link failure detection. A simple method for
estimating the SNR from periodic synchronization signals is considered. The
method is then evaluated using real experiments in common blockage scenarios
combined with outdoor statistical models
Initial Access in 5G mm-Wave Cellular Networks
The massive amounts of bandwidth available at millimeter-wave frequencies
(roughly above 10 GHz) have the potential to greatly increase the capacity of
fifth generation cellular wireless systems. However, to overcome the high
isotropic pathloss experienced at these frequencies, high directionality will
be required at both the base station and the mobile user equipment to establish
sufficient link budget in wide area networks. This reliance on directionality
has important implications for control layer procedures. Initial access in
particular can be significantly delayed due to the need for the base station
and the user to find the proper alignment for directional transmission and
reception. This paper provides a survey of several recently proposed techniques
for this purpose. A coverage and delay analysis is performed to compare various
techniques including exhaustive and iterative search, and Context Information
based algorithms. We show that the best strategy depends on the target SNR
regime, and provide guidelines to characterize the optimal choice as a function
of the system parameters.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, 15 references, submitted to IEEE COMMAG
201
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
60 GHz Blockage Study Using Phased Arrays
The millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies offer the potential for enormous
capacity wireless links. However, designing robust communication systems at
these frequencies requires that we understand the channel dynamics over both
time and space: mmWave signals are extremely vulnerable to blocking and the
channel can thus rapidly appear and disappear with small movement of obstacles
and reflectors. In rich scattering environments, different paths may experience
different blocking trajectories and understanding these multi-path blocking
dynamics is essential for developing and assessing beamforming and
beam-tracking algorithms. This paper presents the design and experimental
results of a novel measurement system which uses phased arrays to perform
mmWave dynamic channel measurements. Specifically, human blockage and its
effects across multiple paths are investigated with only several microseconds
between successive measurements. From these measurements we develop a modeling
technique which uses low-rank tensor factorization to separate the available
paths so that their joint statistics can be understood.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of the 51st Asilomar Conference on
Signals, Systems, and Computers, 201
Toward End-to-End, Full-Stack 6G Terahertz Networks
Recent evolutions in semiconductors have brought the terahertz band in the
spotlight as an enabler for terabit-per-second communications in 6G networks.
Most of the research so far, however, has focused on understanding the physics
of terahertz devices, circuitry and propagation, and on studying physical layer
solutions. However, integrating this technology in complex mobile networks
requires a proper design of the full communication stack, to address link- and
system-level challenges related to network setup, management, coordination,
energy efficiency, and end-to-end connectivity. This paper provides an overview
of the issues that need to be overcome to introduce the terahertz spectrum in
mobile networks, from a MAC, network and transport layer perspective, with
considerations on the performance of end-to-end data flows on terahertz
connections.Comment: Published on IEEE Communications Magazine, THz Communications: A
Catalyst for the Wireless Future, 7 pages, 6 figure
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