Improved Handover Through Dual Connectivity in 5G mmWave Mobile Networks

The millimeter wave (mmWave) bands offer the possibility of orders of magnitude greater throughput for fifth generation (5G) cellular systems. However, since mmWave signals are highly susceptible to blockage, channel quality on any one mmWave link can be extremely intermittent. This paper implements a novel dual connectivity protocol that enables mobile user equipment (UE) devices to maintain physical layer connections to 4G and 5G cells simultaneously. A novel uplink control signaling system combined with a local coordinator enables rapid path switching in the event of failures on any one link. This paper provides the first comprehensive end-to-end evaluation of handover mechanisms in mmWave cellular systems. The simulation framework includes detailed measurement-based channel models to realistically capture spatial dynamics of blocking events, as well as the full details of MAC, RLC and transport protocols. Compared to conventional handover mechanisms, the study reveals significant benefits of the proposed method under several metrics.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, to appear on the 2017 IEEE JSAC Special Issue on Millimeter Wave Communications for Future Mobile Network

Measurements and analysis of large-scale fading characteristics in curved subway tunnels at 920 MHz, 2400 MHz, and 5705 MHz

ave propagation characteristics in curved tunnels are of importance for designing reliable communications in subway systems. This paper presents the extensive propagation measurements conducted in two typical types of subway tunnels—traditional arched “Type I” tunnel and modern arched “Type II” tunnel—with300- and 500-m radii of curvature with different configurations—horizontal and vertical polarizations at 920, 2400, and 5705 MHz, respectively. Based on the measurements, statistical metrics of propagation loss and shadow fading (path-loss exponent, shadow fading distribution, autocorrelation, and cross-correlation) in all the measurement cases are extracted. Then, the large-scale fading characteristics in the curved subway tunnels are compared with the cases of road and railway tunnels, the other main rail traffic scenarios, and some “typical” scenarios to give a comprehensive insight into the propagation in various scenarios where the intelligent transportation systems are deployed. Moreover, for each of the large-scale fading parameters, extensive analysis and discussions are made to reflect the physical laws behind the observations. The quantitative results and findings are useful to realize intelligent transportation systems in the subway system

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

Broadband radio communications in subway stations and tunnels

Broadband radio communication systems are very important for railway traffic control systems and passengers network services. Nowadays, even though 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) has deployed for commercial use with excellent results in open areas, it is still lack of knowledge regarding to how such broadband signals propagate inside complex environments with many complex structures that affect propagation such as subway tunnels and stations. For this reason, the aim of the presented measurements in this paper is to model the response of the broadband channel at 1000 MHz and 2450 MHz in the subway environments. These measurements focus on three types of scenarios: subway stations, straight tunnels and a train effect the signal. The results provide detailed information about the propagation channel, which can be useful to develop a broadband propagation model for underground communication systems

Cognitive Radio Connectivity for Railway Transportation Networks

Reliable wireless networks for high speed trains require a significant amount of data communications for enabling safety features such as train collision avoidance and railway management. Cognitive radio integrates heterogeneous wireless networks that will be deployed in order to achieve intelligent communications in future railway systems. One of the primary technical challenges in achieving reliable communications for railways is the handling of high mobility environments involving trains, which includes significant Doppler shifts in the transmission as well as severe fading scenarios that makes it difficult to estimate wireless spectrum utilization. This thesis has two primary contributions: (1) The creation of a Heterogeneous Cooperative Spectrum Sensing (CSS) prototype system, and (2) the derivation of a Long Term Evolution for Railways (LTE-R) system performance analysis. The Heterogeneous CSS prototype system was implemented using Software-Defined Radios (SDRs) possessing different radio configurations. Both soft and hard-data fusion schemes were used in order to compare the signal source detection performance in real-time fading scenarios. For future smart railways, one proposed solution for enabling greater connectivity is to access underutilized spectrum as a secondary user via the dynamic spectrum access (DSA) paradigm. Since it will be challenging to obtain an accurate estimate of incumbent users via a single-sensor system within a real-world fading environment, the proposed cooperative spectrum sensing approach is employed instead since it can mitigate the effects of multipath and shadowing by utilizing the spatial and temporal diversity of a multiple radio network. Regarding the LTE-R contribution of this thesis, the performance analysis of high speed trains (HSTs) in tunnel environments would provide valuable insights with respect to the smart railway systems operating in high mobility scenarios in drastically impaired channels

Propagation and Wireless Channel Modeling Development on Wide-Sense Vehicle-to-X Communications

The need for improving the safety and the efficiency of transportation systems has become of extreme importance. In this regard, the concept of vehicle-to-X (V2X) communication has been introduced with the purpose of providing wireless communication technology in vehicular networks. Not like the traditional views, the wide-sense V2X (WSV2X) communications in this paper are defined by including not only vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications but also train-to-X (T2X) communications constituted of train-to-train (T2T) and train-to-infrastructure (T2I) communications. All the information related to the wide-sense V2X channels, such as the standardization, scenarios, characters, and modeling philosophies, is organized and summarized to form the comprehensive understanding of the development of the WSV2X channels