Scalable coexistence of eMBB, URLLC and mMTC enabled by non-orthogonal multiple access and network slicing

Abstract. The 5G systems feature three use cases: enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB), massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC) and Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications (URLLC). The diverse requirements of the corresponding services in terms of achievable data-rate, number of connected devices, latency and reliability can lead to sub-optimal use of the 5G resources, thus network slicing emerges as a promising alternative that customizes slices of the network specifically designed to meet specific requirements. By employing network slicing, the radio resources can be shared via orthogonal and non-orthogonal schemes. Motivated by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) paradigm where a large number of sensors may require connectivity with stringent requirements of latency and reliability, we propose and evaluate the joint use of network slicing and Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) with Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) in two different uplink scenarios. In the first scenario, eMBB coexists with URLLC in the same Radio Access Network (RAN) and, in order to improve the number of concurrent URLLC connections to the same base station (BS), they transmit simultaneously and across multiple frequency channels. In the second scenario, eMBB coexists with mMTC and, to provide connectivity to a massive number of devices, the BS has multiple receive antennas. In both cases, we set the reliability requirements for the services and compare the performance of both orthogonal and non-orthogonal network slicing schemes in terms of maximum achievable data rates and connected users. Our results show that, even with overlapping transmissions from multiple devices, network slicing, NOMA and SIC techniques allow us simultaneously satisfy all the heterogeneous requirements of the 5G services

Intelligent Reflective Surface Deployment in 6G: A Comprehensive Survey

Intelligent reflecting surfaces (IRSs) are considered a promising technology that can smartly reconfigure the wireless environment to enhance the performance of future wireless networks. However, the deployment of IRSs still faces challenges due to highly dynamic and mobile unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) enabled wireless environments to achieve higher capacity. This paper sheds light on the different deployment strategies for IRSs in future terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks. Specifically, in this paper, we introduce key theoretical concepts underlying the IRS paradigm and discuss the design aspects related to the deployment of IRSs in 6G networks. We also explore optimization-based IRS deployment techniques to improve system performance in terrestrial and aerial IRSs. Furthermore, we survey model-free reinforcement learning (RL) techniques from the deployment aspect to address the challenges of achieving higher capacity in complex and mobile IRS-assisted UAV wireless systems. Finally, we highlight challenges and future research directions from the deployment aspect of IRSs for improving system performance for the future 6G network.Comment: 16 pages, 3 Figures, 7 table

Reliability performance analysis of half-duplex and full-duplex schemes with self-energy recycling

Abstract. Radio frequency energy harvesting (EH) has emerged as a promising option for improving the energy efficiency of current and future networks. Self-energy recycling (sER), as a variant of EH, has also appeared as a suitable alternative that allows to reuse part of the transmitted energy via an energy loop. In this work we study the benefits of using sER in terms of reliability improvements and compare the performance of full-duplex (FD) and half-duplex (HD) schemes when using multi-antenna techniques at the base station side. We also assume a model for the hardware energy consumption, making the analysis more realistic since most works only consider the energy spent on transmission. In addition to spectral efficiency enhancements, results show that FD performs better than HD in terms of reliability. We maximize the outage probability of the worst link in the network using a dynamic FD scheme where a small base station (SBS) determines the optimal number of antennas for transmission and reception. This scheme proves to be more efficient than classical HD and FD modes. Results show that the use of sER at the SBS introduces changes on the distribution of antennas for maximum fairness when compared to the setup without sER. Moreover, we determine the minimum number of active radio frequency chains required at the SBS in order to achieve a given reliability target

D6.6 Final report on the METIS 5G system concept and technology roadmap

This deliverable presents the METIS 5G system concept which was developed to fulfil the requirements of the beyond-2020 connected information society and to extend today’s wireless communication systems to include new usage scenarios. The METIS 5G system concept consists of three generic 5G services and four main enablers. The three generic 5G services are Extreme Mobile BroadBand (xMBB), Massive Machine- Type Communications (mMTC), and Ultra-reliable Machine-Type Communication (uMTC). The four main enablers are Lean System Control Plane (LSCP), Dynamic RAN, Localized Contents and Traffic Flows, and Spectrum Toolbox. An overview of the METIS 5G architecture is given, as well as spectrum requirements and considerations. System-level evaluation of the METIS 5G system concept has been conducted, and we conclude that the METIS technical objectives are met. A technology roadmap outlining further 5G development, including a timeline and recommended future work is given.Popovski, P.; Mange, G.; Gozalvez -Serrano, D.; Rosowski, T.; Zimmermann, G.; Agyapong, P.; Fallgren, M.... (2014). D6.6 Final report on the METIS 5G system concept and technology roadmap. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/7676