13 research outputs found
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
Interference mitigation in D2D communication underlaying LTE-A network
The mobile data traffic has risen exponentially in recent days due to the emergence of data intensive applications, such as online gaming and video sharing. It is driving the telecommunication industry as well as the research community to come up with new paradigms that will support such high data rate requirements within the existing wireless access network, in an efficient and effective manner. To respond to this challenge, device-to-device (D2D) communication in cellular networks is viewed as a promising solution, which is expected to operate, either within the coverage area of the existing eNB and under the same cellular spectrum (in-band) or separate spectrum (out-band). D2D provides the opportunity for users located in close proximity of each other to communicate directly, without traversing data traffic through the eNB. It results in several transmission gains, such as improved throughput, energy gain, hop gain, and reuse gain. However, integration of D2D communication in cellular systems at the same time introduces new technical challenges that need to be addressed. Containment of the interference among D2D nodes and cellular users is one of the major problems. D2D transmission radiates in all directions, generating undesirable interference to primary cellular users and other D2D users sharing the same radio resources resulting in severe performance degradation. Efficient interference mitigation schemes are a principal requirement in order to optimize the system performance. This paper presents a comprehensive review of the existing interference mitigation schemes present in the open literature. Based on the subjective and objective analysis of the work available to date, it is also envisaged that adopting a multi-antenna beamforming mechanism with power control, such that the transmit power is maximized toward the direction of the intended D2D receiver node and limited in all other directions will minimize the interference in the network. This could maximize the sum throughput and hence, guarantees the reliability of both the D2D and cellular connections
Aspects of capacity enhancement techniques in cellular networks
Frequency spectrum is the scarce resource. From mobile operator’s point of view, efficient utilization of the radio resources is needed while providing maximum coverage, and ensuring good quality of service with minimal infrastructure. In high capacity demanding areas, multilayer networks with multiband and multi radio access technologies are deployed, in order to meet the capacity requirements. In his doctoral thesis, Usman Sheikh has proposed a “Smart Traffic Handling” strategy, which is based on user’s required service type and location. Smart traffic handling scheme efficiently utilizes the different layers of the network, balances the load among them, and improves the system capacity. Power resources at base station are also limited. Usman Sheikh’s proposed “Power Control Scheme for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) network” improves the cell edge user experience, while maintaining the fairness among the other users in a cell. With the help of a proposed power control scheme, a user far from the base station can also enjoy the better quality of service.
Generally, mobile operators use macro cells with wide beam antennas for wider coverage in the cell, but future capacity demands cannot be achieved by using only them. “Higher Order Sectorization” is one possible way to increase the system capacity. Usman Sheikh proposed new network layouts called “Snowflake” and “Flower” tessellations, for 6-sector and 12-sector sites, respectively. These tessellations can be used as a basis for making a nominal network plan for sites with higher order sectorization. These tessellations would be helpful for simulation purposes. Through his work, he has also tried to highlight the importance of deploying “Adaptive MIMO Switching” in Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, the fourth generation of wireless networks.
In future, the fifth generation of wireless networks is expected to offer thousand times more capacity compared to LTE. The novel concept of “Single Path Multiple Access (SPMA)” given by Usman Sheikh is a revolutionary idea, and gives a possibility to increase the system capacity by a giant margin. SPMA can be considered as a right step towards 5G technology.
Usman Sheikh’s work is of high importance not only from mobile operator’s point of view; rather his contributions to the scientific community will also lead to better user (customer) experience. His work will definitely benefit the mankind in utilizing the limited resources in an optimum and efficient way
Ultra Dense Networks Deployment for beyond 2020 Technologies
A new communication paradigm is foreseen for beyond 2020 society, due to the emergence of new broadband services and the Internet of Things era. The set of requirements imposed by these new applications is large and diverse, aiming to provide a ubiquitous broadband connectivity. Research community has been working in the last decade towards the definition of the 5G mobile wireless networks that will provide the proper mechanisms to reach these challenging requirements. In this framework, three key research directions have been identified for the improvement of capacity in 5G: the increase of the spectral efficiency by means of, for example, the use of massive MIMO technology, the use of larger amounts of spectrum by utilizing the millimeter wave band, and the network densification by deploying more base stations per unit area.
This dissertation addresses densification as the main enabler for the broadband and massive connectivity required in future 5G networks. To this aim, this Thesis focuses on the study of the UDN. In particular, a set of technology enablers that can lead UDN to achieve their maximum efficiency and performance are investigated, namely, the use of higher frequency bands for the benefit of larger bandwidths, the use of massive MIMO with distributed antenna systems, and the use of distributed radio resource management techniques for the inter-cell interference coordination.
Firstly, this Thesis analyzes whether there exists a fundamental performance limit related with densification in cellular networks. To this end, the UDN performance is evaluated by means of an analytical model consisting of a 1-dimensional network deployment with equally spaced BS. The inter-BS distance is decreased until reaching the limit of densification when this distance approaches 0. The achievable rates in networks with different inter-BS distances are analyzed for several levels of transmission power availability, and for various types of cooperation among cells.
Moreover, UDN performance is studied in conjunction with the use of a massive number of antennas and larger amounts of spectrum. In particular, the performance of hybrid beamforming and precoding MIMO schemes are assessed in both indoor and outdoor scenarios with multiple cells and users, working in the mmW frequency band. On the one hand, beamforming schemes using the full-connected hybrid architecture are analyzed in BS with limited number of RF chains, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of these schemes in a dense-urban scenario. On the other hand, the performance of different indoor deployment strategies using HP in the mmW band is evaluated, focusing on the use of DAS. More specifically, a DHP suitable for DAS is proposed, comparing its performance with that of HP in other indoor deployment strategies. Lastly, the presence of practical limitations and hardware impairments in the use of hybrid architectures is also investigated.
Finally, the investigation of UDN is completed with the study of their main limitation, which is the increasing inter-cell interference in the network. In order to tackle this problem, an eICIC scheduling algorithm based on resource partitioning techniques is proposed. Its performance is evaluated and compared to other scheduling algorithms under several degrees of network densification.
After the completion of this study, the potential of UDN to reach the capacity requirements of 5G networks is confirmed. Nevertheless, without the use of larger portions of spectrum, a proper interference management and the use of a massive number of antennas, densification could turn into a serious problem for mobile operators. Performance evaluation results show large system capacity gains with the use of massive MIMO techniques in UDN, and even greater when the antennas are distributed. Furthermore, the application of ICIC techniques reveals that, besides the increase in system capacity, it brings significant energy savings to UDNs.A partir del año 2020 se prevé que un nuevo paradigma de comunicación surja en la sociedad, debido a la aparición de nuevos servicios y la era del Internet de las cosas. El conjunto de requisitos impuesto por estas nuevas aplicaciones es muy amplio y diverso, y tiene como principal objetivo proporcionar conectividad de banda ancha y universal. En las últimas décadas, la comunidad científica ha estado trabajando en la definición de la 5G de redes móviles que brindará los mecanismos necesarios para garantizar estos requisitos. En este marco, se han identificado tres mecanismos clave para conseguir el necesario incremento de capacidad de la red: el aumento de la eficiencia espectral a través de, por ejemplo, el uso de tecnologías MIMO masivas, la utilización de mayores porciones del espectro en frecuencia y la densificación de la red mediante el despliegue de más estaciones base por área.
Esta Tesis doctoral aborda la densificación como el principal mecanismo que permitirá la conectividad de banda ancha y universal requerida en la 5G, centrándose en el estudio de las Redes Ultra Densas o UDNs. En concreto, se analiza el conjunto de tecnologías habilitantes que pueden llevar a las UDNs a obtener su máxima eficiencia y prestaciones, incluyendo el uso de altas frecuencias para el aprovechamiento de mayores anchos de banda, la utilización de MIMO masivo con sistemas de antenas distribuidas y el uso de técnicas de reparto de recursos distribuidas para la coordinación de interferencias.
En primer lugar, se analiza si existe un límite fundamental en la mejora de las prestaciones en relación a la densificación. Con este fin, las prestaciones de las UDNs se evalúan utilizando un modelo analítico de red unidimensional con BSs equiespaciadas, en el que la distancia entre BSs se disminuye hasta alcanzar el límite de densificación cuando ésta se aproxima a 0. Las tasas alcanzables en redes con distintas distancias entre BSs son analizadas, considerando distintos niveles de potencia disponible en la red y varios grados de cooperación entre celdas.
Además, el comportamiento de las UDNs se estudia junto al uso masivo de antenas y la utilización de anchos de banda mayores. Más concretamente, las prestaciones de ciertas técnicas híbridas MIMO de precodificación y beamforming se examinan en la banda milimétrica. Por una parte, se analizan esquemas de beamforming en BSs con arquitectura híbrida en función de la disponibilidad de cadenas de radiofrecuencia en escenarios exteriores. Por otra parte, se evalúan las prestaciones de ciertos esquemas de precodificación híbrida en escenarios interiores, utilizando distintos despliegues y centrando la atención en los sistemas de antenas distribuidos o DAS. Además, se propone un algoritmo de precodificación híbrida específico para DAS, y se evalúan y comparan sus prestaciones con las de otros algoritmos de precodificación utilizados. Por último, se investiga el impacto en las prestaciones de ciertas limitaciones prácticas y deficiencias introducidas por el uso de dispositivos no ideales.
Finalmente, el estudio de las UDNs se completa con el análisis de su principal limitación, el nivel creciente de interferencia en la red. Para ello, se propone un algoritmo de control de interferencias basado en la partición de recursos. Sus prestaciones son evaluadas y comparadas con las de otras técnicas de asignación de recursos.
Tras este estudio, se puede afirmar que las UDNs tienen gran potencial para la consecución de los requisitos de la 5G. Sin embargo, sin el uso conjunto de mayores porciones del espectro, adecuadas técnicas de control de la interferencia y el uso masivo de antenas, las UDNs pueden convertirse en serios obstáculos para los operadores móviles. Los resultados de la evaluación de prestaciones de estas tecnologías confirman el gran aumento de la capacidad de las redes mediante el uso masivo de antenas y la introducción de mecanismos de IA partir de l'any 2020 es preveu un nou paradigma de comunicació en la societat, degut a l'aparició de nous serveis i la era de la Internet de les coses. El conjunt de requeriments imposat per aquestes noves aplicacions és ampli i divers, i té com a principal objectiu proporcionar connectivitat universal i de banda ampla. En les últimes dècades, la comunitat científica ha estat treballant en la definició de la 5G, que proveirà els mecanismes necessaris per a garantir aquests exigents requeriments. En aquest marc, s'han identificat tres mecanismes claus per a aconseguir l'increment necessari en la capacitat: l'augment de l'eficiència espectral a través de, per exemple, l'ús de tecnologies MIMO massives, la utilització de majors porcions de l'espectre i la densificació mitjançant el desplegament de més estacions base per àrea.
Aquesta Tesi aborda la densificació com a principal mecanisme que permetrà la connectivitat de banda ampla i universal requerida en la 5G, centrant-se en l' estudi de les xarxes ultra denses (UDNs). Concretament, el conjunt de tecnologies que poden dur a les UDNs a la seua màxima eficiència i prestacions és analitzat, incloent l'ús d'altes freqüències per a l'aprofitament de majors amplàries de banda, la utilització de MIMO massiu amb sistemes d'antenes distribuïdes i l'ús de tècniques distribuïdes de repartiment de recursos per a la coordinació de la interferència.
En primer lloc, aquesta Tesi analitza si existeix un límit fonamental en les prestacions en relació a la densificació. Per això, les prestacions de les UDNs s'avaluen utilitzant un model analític unidimensional amb estacions base equidistants, en les quals la distància entre estacions base es redueix fins assolir el límit de densificació quan aquesta distància s'aproxima a 0. Les taxes assolibles en xarxes amb diferents distàncies entre estacions base s'analitzen considerant diferents nivells de potència i varis graus de cooperació entre cel·les.
A més, el comportament de les UDNs s'estudia conjuntament amb l'ús massiu d'antenes i la utilització de majors amplàries de banda. Més concretament, les prestacions de certes tècniques híbrides MIMO de precodificació i beamforming s'examinen en la banda mil·limètrica. D'una banda, els esquemes de beamforming aplicats a estacions base amb arquitectures híbrides és analitzat amb disponibilitat limitada de cadenes de radiofreqüència a un escenari urbà dens. D'altra banda, s'avaluen les prestacions de certs esquemes de precodificació híbrida en escenaris d'interior, utilitzant diferents estratègies de desplegament i centrant l'atenció en els sistemes d' antenes distribuïdes (DAS). A més, es proposa un algoritme de precodificació híbrida distribuïda per a DAS, i s'avaluen i comparen les seues prestacions amb les de altres algoritmes. Per últim, s'investiga l'impacte de les limitacions pràctiques i altres deficiències introduïdes per l'ús de dispositius no ideals en les prestacions de tots els esquemes anteriors.
Finalment, l' estudi de les UDNs es completa amb l'anàlisi de la seua principal limitació, el nivell creixent d'interferència entre cel·les. Per tractar aquest problema, es proposa un algoritme de control d'interferències basat en la partició de recursos. Les prestacions de l'algoritme proposat s'avaluen i comparen amb les d'altres tècniques d'assignació de recursos.
Una vegada completat aquest estudi, es pot afirmar que les UDNs tenen un gran potencial per aconseguir els ambiciosos requeriments plantejats per a la 5G. Tanmateix, sense l'ús conjunt de majors amplàries de banda, apropiades tècniques de control de la interferència i l'ús massiu d'antenes, les UDNs poden convertir-se en seriosos obstacles per als operadors mòbils. Els resultats de l'avaluació de prestacions d' aquestes tecnologies confirmen el gran augment de la capacitat de les xarxes obtingut mitjançant l'ús massiu d'antenes i la introducciGiménez Colás, S. (2017). Ultra Dense Networks Deployment for beyond 2020 Technologies [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/86204TESI
Ondas milimétricas e MIMO massivo para otimização da capacidade e cobertura de redes heterogeneas de 5G
Today's Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) networks cannot support
the exponential growth in mobile traffic forecast for the next decade. By
2020, according to Ericsson, 6 billion mobile subscribers worldwide are projected
to generate 46 exabytes of mobile data traffic monthly from 24 billion
connected devices, smartphones and short-range Internet of Things (IoT)
devices being the key prosumers. In response, 5G networks are foreseen
to markedly outperform legacy 4G systems. Triggered by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) under the IMT-2020 network initiative, 5G
will support three broad categories of use cases: enhanced mobile broadband
(eMBB) for multi-Gbps data rate applications; ultra-reliable and low latency
communications (URLLC) for critical scenarios; and massive machine
type communications (mMTC) for massive connectivity. Among the several
technology enablers being explored for 5G, millimeter-wave (mmWave)
communication, massive MIMO antenna arrays and ultra-dense small cell
networks (UDNs) feature as the dominant technologies. These technologies
in synergy are anticipated to provide the 1000_ capacity increase for 5G
networks (relative to 4G) through the combined impact of large additional
bandwidth, spectral efficiency (SE) enhancement and high frequency reuse,
respectively. However, although these technologies can pave the way towards
gigabit wireless, there are still several challenges to solve in terms of
how we can fully harness the available bandwidth efficiently through appropriate
beamforming and channel modeling approaches. In this thesis, we
investigate the system performance enhancements realizable with mmWave
massive MIMO in 5G UDN and cellular infrastructure-to-everything (C-I2X)
application scenarios involving pedestrian and vehicular users. As a critical
component of the system-level simulation approach adopted in this thesis,
we implemented 3D channel models for the accurate characterization of the
wireless channels in these scenarios and for realistic performance evaluation.
To address the hardware cost, complexity and power consumption of the
massive MIMO architectures, we propose a novel generalized framework for
hybrid beamforming (HBF) array structures. The generalized model reveals
the opportunities that can be harnessed with the overlapped subarray structures
for a balanced trade-o_ between SE and energy efficiently (EE) of 5G
networks. The key results in this investigation show that mmWave massive
MIMO can deliver multi-Gbps rates for 5G whilst maintaining energy-efficient operation of the network.As redes LTE-A atuais não são capazes de suportar o crescimento exponencial
de tráfego que está previsto para a próxima década. De acordo
com a previsão da Ericsson, espera-se que em 2020, a nível global, 6 mil
milhões de subscritores venham a gerar mensalmente 46 exa bytes de tráfego
de dados a partir de 24 mil milhões de dispositivos ligados à rede móvel,
sendo os telefones inteligentes e dispositivos IoT de curto alcance os principais
responsáveis por tal nível de tráfego. Em resposta a esta exigência,
espera-se que as redes de 5a geração (5G) tenham um desempenho substancialmente
superior às redes de 4a geração (4G) atuais. Desencadeado pelo
UIT (União Internacional das Telecomunicações) no âmbito da iniciativa
IMT-2020, o 5G irá suportar três grandes tipos de utilizações: banda larga
móvel capaz de suportar aplicações com débitos na ordem de vários Gbps;
comunicações de baixa latência e alta fiabilidade indispensáveis em cenários
de emergência; comunicações massivas máquina-a-máquina para conectividade
generalizada. Entre as várias tecnologias capacitadoras que estão a ser
exploradas pelo 5G, as comunicações através de ondas milimétricas, os agregados
MIMO massivo e as redes celulares ultradensas (RUD) apresentam-se
como sendo as tecnologias fundamentais. Antecipa-se que o conjunto
destas tecnologias venha a fornecer às redes 5G um aumento de capacidade
de 1000x através da utilização de maiores larguras de banda, melhoria da
eficiência espectral, e elevada reutilização de frequências respetivamente.
Embora estas tecnologias possam abrir caminho para as redes sem fios
com débitos na ordem dos gigabits, existem ainda vários desafios que têm
que ser resolvidos para que seja possível aproveitar totalmente a largura de
banda disponível de maneira eficiente utilizando abordagens de formatação
de feixe e de modelação de canal adequadas. Nesta tese investigamos a
melhoria de desempenho do sistema conseguida através da utilização de
ondas milimétricas e agregados MIMO massivo em cenários de redes celulares
ultradensas de 5a geração e em cenários 'infraestrutura celular-para-qualquer
coisa' (do inglês: cellular infrastructure-to-everything) envolvendo
utilizadores pedestres e veiculares. Como um componente fundamental das
simulações de sistema utilizadas nesta tese é o canal de propagação, implementamos modelos de canal tridimensional (3D) para caracterizar de
forma precisa o canal de propagação nestes cenários e assim conseguir uma
avaliação de desempenho mais condizente com a realidade. Para resolver os
problemas associados ao custo do equipamento, complexidade e consumo
de energia das arquiteturas MIMO massivo, propomos um modelo inovador
de agregados com formatação de feixe híbrida. Este modelo genérico revela
as oportunidades que podem ser aproveitadas através da sobreposição
de sub-agregados no sentido de obter um compromisso equilibrado entre
eficiência espectral (ES) e eficiência energética (EE) nas redes 5G. Os principais
resultados desta investigação mostram que a utilização conjunta de
ondas milimétricas e de agregados MIMO massivo possibilita a obtenção, em
simultâneo, de taxas de transmissão na ordem de vários Gbps e a operação
de rede de forma energeticamente eficiente.Programa Doutoral em Telecomunicaçõe
Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments
The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on "Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments". The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. Topics discussed in this book include: • Radio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments• Measurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks• Key issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication• Wireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs• Energy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks• Definitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures• Advances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques• Recent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications• Physical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems• Methods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testin