End-to-End Simulation of 5G mmWave Networks

Due to its potential for multi-gigabit and low latency wireless links, millimeter wave (mmWave) technology is expected to play a central role in 5th generation cellular systems. While there has been considerable progress in understanding the mmWave physical layer, innovations will be required at all layers of the protocol stack, in both the access and the core network. Discrete-event network simulation is essential for end-to-end, cross-layer research and development. This paper provides a tutorial on a recently developed full-stack mmWave module integrated into the widely used open-source ns--3 simulator. The module includes a number of detailed statistical channel models as well as the ability to incorporate real measurements or ray-tracing data. The Physical (PHY) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers are modular and highly customizable, making it easy to integrate algorithms or compare Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) numerologies, for example. The module is interfaced with the core network of the ns--3 Long Term Evolution (LTE) module for full-stack simulations of end-to-end connectivity, and advanced architectural features, such as dual-connectivity, are also available. To facilitate the understanding of the module, and verify its correct functioning, we provide several examples that show the performance of the custom mmWave stack as well as custom congestion control algorithms designed specifically for efficient utilization of the mmWave channel.Comment: 25 pages, 16 figures, submitted to IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials (revised Jan. 2018

Performance Comparison of Dual Connectivity and Hard Handover for LTE-5G Tight Integration in mmWave Cellular Networks

MmWave communications are expected to play a major role in the Fifth generation of mobile networks. They offer a potential multi-gigabit throughput and an ultra-low radio latency, but at the same time suffer from high isotropic pathloss, and a coverage area much smaller than the one of LTE macrocells. In order to address these issues, highly directional beamforming and a very high-density deployment of mmWave base stations were proposed. This Thesis aims to improve the reliability and performance of the 5G network by studying its tight and seamless integration with the current LTE cellular network. In particular, the LTE base stations can provide a coverage layer for 5G mobile terminals, because they operate on microWave frequencies, which are less sensitive to blockage and have a lower pathloss. This document is a copy of the Master's Thesis carried out by Mr. Michele Polese under the supervision of Dr. Marco Mezzavilla and Prof. Michele Zorzi. It will propose an LTE-5G tight integration architecture, based on mobile terminals' dual connectivity to LTE and 5G radio access networks, and will evaluate which are the new network procedures that will be needed to support it. Moreover, this new architecture will be implemented in the ns-3 simulator, and a thorough simulation campaign will be conducted in order to evaluate its performance, with respect to the baseline of handover between LTE and 5G.Comment: Master's Thesis carried out by Mr. Michele Polese under the supervision of Dr. Marco Mezzavilla and Prof. Michele Zorz

Final report on the evaluation of RRM/CRRM algorithms

Deliverable public del projecte EVERESTThis deliverable provides a definition and a complete evaluation of the RRM/CRRM algorithms selected in D11 and D15, and evolved and refined on an iterative process. The evaluation will be carried out by means of simulations using the simulators provided at D07, and D14.Preprin

Link Adaptation for WiMAX Supported Mobile Hotspot

In recent years, mobile hotspots have been getting much attention of the researchers. They are implemented on moving platforms. Research interests in mobile hotspots are motivated by the demand of seamless mobility. The IEEE 802.16e or mobile WiMAX opens a new door of possibility of mobile broadband. It provides extended mobility support and larger cell coverage. In this thesis we propose a simple link adaptation (LA) algorithm for the mobile hotspots, which are supported by (mobile) WiMAX network. The role of link adaptation (LA) is very important because it controls the physical layer throughput. Therefore, all the higher layers are affected by LA. The main function of an LA algorithm is to select an appropriate burst profile. We consider downlink scenarios of WiMAX supported mobile hotspot. We formulate a discrete value optimization problem for LA, whose objective is throughput maximization. We choose forward error correction block rate (FBER) as constraint. The proposed LA algorithm comes as solution of the optimization problem. The proposed algorithm adapt with MAC layer performance. We develop a downlink channel estimation technique, propose an intra subchannel power allocation strategy, and propose an adaptive automatic repeat request (ARQ) mechanism as part of LA technique. We estimate SNR using channel estimation and intra subchannel power allocation. Then the estimated SNR is adjusted based on velocity of mobile hotspot. Adjusted SNR is used to select optimum burst profile. The performances of the proposed LA algorithm are evaluated through numerical results obtained from link level simulations. According to numerical results, the proposed LA algorithm is able to maintain a certain level quality of service (QoS)

Quality of service optimization of multimedia traffic in mobile networks

Mobile communication systems have continued to evolve beyond the currently deployed Third Generation (3G) systems with the main goal of providing higher capacity. Systems beyond 3G are expected to cater for a wide variety of services such as speech, data, image transmission, video, as well as multimedia services consisting of a combination of these. With the air interface being the bottleneck in mobile networks, recent enhancing technologies such as the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), incorporate major changes to the radio access segment of 3G Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). HSDPA introduces new features such as fast link adaptation mechanisms, fast packet scheduling, and physical layer retransmissions in the base stations, necessitating buffering of data at the air interface which presents a bottleneck to end-to-end communication. Hence, in order to provide end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees to multimedia services in wireless networks such as HSDPA, efficient buffer management schemes are required at the air interface. The main objective of this thesis is to propose and evaluate solutions that will address the QoS optimization of multimedia traffic at the radio link interface of HSDPA systems. In the thesis, a novel queuing system known as the Time-Space Priority (TSP) scheme is proposed for multimedia traffic QoS control. TSP provides customized preferential treatment to the constituent flows in the multimedia traffic to suit their diverse QoS requirements. With TSP queuing, the real-time component of the multimedia traffic, being delay sensitive and loss tolerant, is given transmission priority; while the non-real-time component, being loss sensitive and delay tolerant, enjoys space priority. Hence, based on the TSP queuing paradigm, new buffer managementalgorithms are designed for joint QoS control of the diverse components in a multimedia session of the same HSDPA user. In the thesis, a TSP based buffer management algorithm known as the Enhanced Time Space Priority (E-TSP) is proposed for HSDPA. E-TSP incorporates flow control mechanisms to mitigate congestion in the air interface buffer of a user with multimedia session comprising real-time and non-real-time flows. Thus, E-TSP is designed to provide efficient network and radio resource utilization to improve end-to-end multimedia traffic performance. In order to allow real-time optimization of the QoS control between the real-time and non-real-time flows of the HSDPA multimedia session, another TSP based buffer management algorithm known as the Dynamic Time Space Priority (D-TSP) is proposed. D-TSP incorporates dynamic priority switching between the real-time and non-real-time flows. D-TSP is designed to allow optimum QoS trade-off between the flows whilst still guaranteeing the stringent real-time component’s QoS requirements. The thesis presents results of extensive performance studies undertaken via analytical modelling and dynamic network-level HSDPA simulations demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed TSP queuing system and the TSP based buffer management schemes

Performance analysis of 4G wireless networks using system level simulator

Doutoramento em Engenharia ElectrotécnicaIn the last decade, mobile wireless communications have witnessed an explosive growth in the user’s penetration rate and their widespread deployment around the globe. In particular, a research topic of particular relevance in telecommunications nowadays is related to the design and implementation of mobile communication systems of 4th generation (4G). 4G networks will be characterized by the support of multiple radio access technologies in a core network fully compliant with the Internet Protocol (all IP paradigms). Such networks will sustain the stringent quality of service (QoS) requirements and the expected high data rates from the type of multimedia applications (i.e. YouTube and Skype) to be available in the near future. Therefore, 4G wireless communications system will be of paramount importance on the development of the information society in the near future. As 4G wireless services will continue to increase, this will put more and more pressure on the spectrum availability. There is a worldwide recognition that methods of spectrum managements have reached their limit and are no longer optimal, therefore new paradigms must be sought. Studies show that most of the assigned spectrum is under-utilized, thus the problem in most cases is inefficient spectrum management rather spectrum shortage. There are currently trends towards a more liberalized approach of spectrum management, which are tightly linked to what is commonly termed as Cognitive Radio (CR). Furthermore, conventional deployment of 4G wireless systems (one BS in cell and mobile deploy around it) are known to have problems in providing fairness (users closer to the BS are more benefited relatively to the cell edge users) and in covering some zones affected by shadowing, therefore the use of relays has been proposed as a solution. To evaluate and analyse the performances of 4G wireless systems software tools are normally used. Software tools have become more and more mature in recent years and their need to provide a high level evaluation of proposed algorithms and protocols is now more important. The system level simulation (SLS) tools provide a fundamental and flexible way to test all the envisioned algorithms and protocols under realistic conditions, without the need to deal with the problems of live networks or reduced scope prototypes. Furthermore, the tools allow network designers a rapid collection of a wide range of performance metrics that are useful for the analysis and optimization of different algorithms. This dissertation proposes the design and implementation of conventional system level simulator (SLS), which afterwards enhances for the 4G wireless technologies namely cognitive Radios (IEEE802.22) and Relays (IEEE802.16j). SLS is then used for the analysis of proposed algorithms and protocols.FC

TD-SCDMA Relay Networks

PhDWhen this research was started, TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) was still in the research/ development phase, but now, at the time of writing this thesis, it is in commercial use in 10 large cities in China including Beijing and Shang Hai. In all of these cities HSDPA is enabled. The roll-out of the commercial deployment is progressing fast with installations in another 28 cities being underway now. However, during the pre-commercial TD-SCDM trail in China, which started from year 2006, some interference problems have been noticed especially in the network planning and initialization phases. Interference is always an issue in any network and the goal of the work reported in this thesis is to improve network coverage and capacity in the presence of interference. Based on an analysis of TD-SCDMA issues and how network interference arises, this thesis proposes two enhancements to the network in addition to the standard N-frequency technique. These are (i) the introduction of the concentric circle cell concept and (ii) the addition of a relay network that makes use of other users at the cell boundary. This overall approach not only optimizes the resilience to interference but increases the network coverage without adding more Node Bs. Based on the cell planning parameters from the research, TD-SCDMA HSDPA services in dense urban area and non-HSDPA services in rural areas were simulated to investigate the network performance impact after introducing the relay network into a TD-SCDMA network. The results for HSDPA applications show significant improvement in the TDSCDMA relay network both for network capacity and network interference aspects compared to standard TD-SCDMA networks. The results for non- HSDPA service show that although the network capacity has not changed after adding in the relay network (due to the code limitation in TD-SCDMA), the TD-SCDMA relay network has better interference performance and greater coverage