Non-Orthogonal Multiplexing of Ultra-Reliable and Broadband Services in Fog-Radio Architectures

The fifth generation (5G) of cellular systems is introducing Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) services alongside more conventional enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB) traffic. Furthermore, the 5G cellular architecture is evolving from a base station-centric deployment to a fog-like set-up that accommodates a flexible functional split between cloud and edge. In this paper, a novel solution is proposed that enables the non-orthogonal coexistence of URLLC and eMBB services by processing URLLC traffic at the Edge Nodes (ENs), while eMBB communications are handled centrally at a cloud processor as in a Cloud-Radio Access Network (C-RAN) system. This solution guarantees the low-latency requirements of the URLLC service by means of edge processing, e.g., for vehicle-to-cellular use cases, as well as the high spectral efficiency for eMBB traffic via centralized baseband processing. Both uplink and downlink are analyzed by accounting for the heterogeneous performance requirements of eMBB and URLLC traffic and by considering practical aspects such as fading, lack of channel state information for URLLC transmitters, rate adaptation for eMBB transmitters, finite fronthaul capacity, and different coexistence strategies, such as puncturing.Comment: Submitted as Journal Pape

Towards Tactile Internet in Beyond 5G Era: Recent Advances, Current Issues and Future Directions

Tactile Internet (TI) is envisioned to create a paradigm shift from the content-oriented communications to steer/control-based communications by enabling real-time transmission of haptic information (i.e., touch, actuation, motion, vibration, surface texture) over Internet in addition to the conventional audiovisual and data traffics. This emerging TI technology, also considered as the next evolution phase of Internet of Things (IoT), is expected to create numerous opportunities for technology markets in a wide variety of applications ranging from teleoperation systems and Augmented/Virtual Reality (AR/VR) to automotive safety and eHealthcare towards addressing the complex problems of human society. However, the realization of TI over wireless media in the upcoming Fifth Generation (5G) and beyond networks creates various non-conventional communication challenges and stringent requirements in terms of ultra-low latency, ultra-high reliability, high data-rate connectivity, resource allocation, multiple access and quality-latency-rate tradeoff. To this end, this paper aims to provide a holistic view on wireless TI along with a thorough review of the existing state-of-the-art, to identify and analyze the involved technical issues, to highlight potential solutions and to propose future research directions. First, starting with the vision of TI and recent advances and a review of related survey/overview articles, we present a generalized framework for wireless TI in the Beyond 5G Era including a TI architecture, the main technical requirements, the key application areas and potential enabling technologies. Subsequently, we provide a comprehensive review of the existing TI works by broadly categorizing them into three main paradigms; namely, haptic communications, wireless AR/VR, and autonomous, intelligent and cooperative mobility systems. Next, potential enabling technologies across physical/Medium Access Control (MAC) and network layers are identified and discussed in detail. Also, security and privacy issues of TI applications are discussed along with some promising enablers. Finally, we present some open research challenges and recommend promising future research directions

The Four-C Framework for High Capacity Ultra-Low Latency in 5G Networks: A Review

Network latency will be a critical performance metric for the Fifth Generation (5G) networks expected to be fully rolled out in 2020 through the IMT-2020 project. The multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) technology is a key enabler for the 5G massive connectivity criterion, especially from the massive densification perspective. Naturally, it appears that 5G MU-MIMO will face a daunting task to achieve an end-to-end 1 ms ultra-low latency budget if traditional network set-ups criteria are strictly adhered to. Moreover, 5G latency will have added dimensions of scalability and flexibility compared to prior existing deployed technologies. The scalability dimension caters for meeting rapid demand as new applications evolve. While flexibility complements the scalability dimension by investigating novel non-stacked protocol architecture. The goal of this review paper is to deploy ultra-low latency reduction framework for 5G communications considering flexibility and scalability. The Four (4) C framework consisting of cost, complexity, cross-layer and computing is hereby analyzed and discussed. The Four (4) C framework discusses several emerging new technologies of software defined network (SDN), network function virtualization (NFV) and fog networking. This review paper will contribute significantly towards the future implementation of flexible and high capacity ultra-low latency 5G communications