Performance evaluation of 5G millimeter-wave cellular access networks using a capacity-based network deployment tool

The next fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication networks comes with a set of new features to satisfy the demand of data-intensive applications: millimeter-wave frequencies, massive antenna arrays, beamforming, dense cells, and so forth. In this paper, we investigate the use of beamforming techniques through various architectures and evaluate the performance of 5G wireless access networks, using a capacity-based network deployment tool. This tool is proposed and applied to a realistic area in Ghent, Belgium, to simulate realistic 5G networks that respond to the instantaneous bit rate required by the active users. The results show that, with beamforming, 5G networks require almost 15% more base stations and 4 times less power to provide more capacity to the users and the same coverage performances, in comparison with the 4G reference network. Moreover, they are 3 times more energy efficient than the 4G network and the hybrid beamforming architecture appears to be a suitable architecture for beamforming to be considered when designing a 5G cellular network

Separation Framework: An Enabler for Cooperative and D2D Communication for Future 5G Networks

Soaring capacity and coverage demands dictate that future cellular networks need to soon migrate towards ultra-dense networks. However, network densification comes with a host of challenges that include compromised energy efficiency, complex interference management, cumbersome mobility management, burdensome signaling overheads and higher backhaul costs. Interestingly, most of the problems, that beleaguer network densification, stem from legacy networks' one common feature i.e., tight coupling between the control and data planes regardless of their degree of heterogeneity and cell density. Consequently, in wake of 5G, control and data planes separation architecture (SARC) has recently been conceived as a promising paradigm that has potential to address most of aforementioned challenges. In this article, we review various proposals that have been presented in literature so far to enable SARC. More specifically, we analyze how and to what degree various SARC proposals address the four main challenges in network densification namely: energy efficiency, system level capacity maximization, interference management and mobility management. We then focus on two salient features of future cellular networks that have not yet been adapted in legacy networks at wide scale and thus remain a hallmark of 5G, i.e., coordinated multipoint (CoMP), and device-to-device (D2D) communications. After providing necessary background on CoMP and D2D, we analyze how SARC can particularly act as a major enabler for CoMP and D2D in context of 5G. This article thus serves as both a tutorial as well as an up to date survey on SARC, CoMP and D2D. Most importantly, the article provides an extensive outlook of challenges and opportunities that lie at the crossroads of these three mutually entangled emerging technologies.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 201

Techno-Economic Analysis of 5G Deployment Scenarios involving Massive MIMO HetNets over mmWave: A Case Study on the US State of Texas

The fifth generation (5G) of mobile services envisages network heterogeneity, cell densification, and high spectral efficiency using Massive MIMO, operating at millimeter-wave frequencies. Accurately assessing the potential of financial returns for such a complex network poses to operators unique challenges including techno-economic analysis leading to the identification of decision variables most sensitive to the profitability parameters. Attempting to demystify their concerns, we evaluate the profitability potential for realistic 5G deployment scenarios over 28 GHz frequency in the State of Texas. Interestingly, we discover that the total cost of ownership for 5G network is about one-third of that for 4G LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) deployment, yielding estimated returns amounting to $482.14 million for the period 2020-2030. The sensitivity analyses predict profitability in 70% of the cases of 5G, against LTE-A. For operators, the crucial levers having the maximum impact on profitability are decisions pertaining to the spectrum acquisition and the pricing of services

A Practical Tessellation-Based Approach for Optimizing Cell-Specific Bias Values in LTE-A Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

In order to implement an optimized solution for cell range expansion (CRE) and enhanced intercell interference coordination (eICIC) schemes in long-term evolution-advanced (LTE-A) heterogeneous cellular networks (HCNs) and to realize good load-balancing performance in existing LTE-A systems, a practical tessellation-based algorithm is proposed. In this algorithm, a globalized cell-specific bias optimization and a localized almost blank subframe (ABS) ratio update are proposed. The proposed scheme does not require major changes to existing protocols. Thus, it can be implemented in existing LTE-A systems with any legacy user equipment (UE) with only a partial update to the BSs and core networks. From simulation results, it is shown that the tessellation formed by the proposed approach is quite consistent with the optimal one for various realistic scenarios. Thus, the proposed scheme can provide a much better load-balancing capability compared with the conventional common bias scheme. Owing to the improved load-balancing capability, the user rate distribution of the proposed scheme is much better than that obtained from the conventional scheme and is even indistinguishable from that of the ideal joint user association scheme