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

Channel Dynamics and SNR Tracking in Millimeter Wave Cellular Systems

The millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies are likely to play a significant role in fifth-generation (5G) cellular systems. A key challenge in developing systems in these bands is the potential for rapid channel dynamics: since mmWave signals are blocked by many materials, small changes in the position or orientation of the handset relative to objects in the environment can cause large swings in the channel quality. This paper addresses the issue of tracking the signal to noise ratio (SNR), which is an essential procedure for rate prediction, handover and radio link failure detection. A simple method for estimating the SNR from periodic synchronization signals is considered. The method is then evaluated using real experiments in common blockage scenarios combined with outdoor statistical models

Understanding Noise and Interference Regimes in 5G Millimeter-Wave Cellular Networks

With the severe spectrum shortage in conventional cellular bands, millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies have been attracting growing attention for next-generation micro- and picocellular wireless networks. A fundamental and open question is whether mmWave cellular networks are likely to be noise- or interference-limited. Identifying in which regime a network is operating is critical for the design of MAC and physical-layer procedures and to provide insights on how transmissions across cells should be coordinated to cope with interference. This work uses the latest measurement-based statistical channel models to accurately assess the Interference-to-Noise Ratio (INR) in a wide range of deployment scenarios. In addition to cell density, we also study antenna array size and antenna patterns, whose effects are critical in the mmWave regime. The channel models also account for blockage, line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight regimes as well as local scattering, that significantly affect the level of spatial isolation

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

Stochastic Geometry Modeling and Performance Evaluation of mmWave Cellular Communications

In this paper, a new mathematical framework to the analysis of millimeter wave cellular networks is introduced. Its peculiarity lies in considering realistic path-loss and blockage models, which are derived from experimental data recently reported in the literature. The path-loss model accounts for different distributions for line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight propagation conditions and the blockage model includes an outage state that provides a better representation of the outage possibilities of millimeter wave communications. By modeling the locations of the base stations as points of a Poisson point process and by relying upon a noise-limited approximation for typical millimeter wave network deployments, exact integral expressions for computing the coverage probability and the average rate are obtained. With the aid of Monte Carlo simulations, the noise-limited approximation is shown to be sufficiently accurate for typical network densities. Furthermore, it is shown that sufficiently dense millimeter wave cellular networks are capable of outperforming micro wave cellular networks, both in terms of coverage probability and average rate.Comment: Presented at 2015 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), London, UK (June 2015). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1410.357