60 research outputs found
Ultra Dense Small Cell Networks: Turning Density into Energy Efficiency
In this paper, a novel approach for joint power control and user scheduling
is proposed for optimizing energy efficiency (EE), in terms of bits per unit
energy, in ultra dense small cell networks (UDNs). Due to severe coupling in
interference, this problem is formulated as a dynamic stochastic game (DSG)
between small cell base stations (SBSs). This game enables to capture the
dynamics of both the queues and channel states of the system. To solve this
game, assuming a large homogeneous UDN deployment, the problem is cast as a
mean-field game (MFG) in which the MFG equilibrium is analyzed with the aid of
low-complexity tractable partial differential equations. Exploiting the
stochastic nature of the problem, user scheduling is formulated as a stochastic
optimization problem and solved using the drift plus penalty (DPP) approach in
the framework of Lyapunov optimization. Remarkably, it is shown that by weaving
notions from Lyapunov optimization and mean-field theory, the proposed solution
yields an equilibrium control policy per SBS which maximizes the network
utility while ensuring users' quality-of-service. Simulation results show that
the proposed approach achieves up to 70.7% gains in EE and 99.5% reductions in
the network's outage probabilities compared to a baseline model which focuses
on improving EE while attempting to satisfy the users' instantaneous
quality-of-service requirements.Comment: 15 pages, 21 figures (sub-figures are counted separately), IEEE
Journal on Selected Areas in Communications - Series on Green Communications
and Networking (Issue 2
Ondas milimétricas e MIMO massivo para otimização da capacidade e cobertura de redes heterogeneas de 5G
Today's Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) networks cannot support
the exponential growth in mobile traffic forecast for the next decade. By
2020, according to Ericsson, 6 billion mobile subscribers worldwide are projected
to generate 46 exabytes of mobile data traffic monthly from 24 billion
connected devices, smartphones and short-range Internet of Things (IoT)
devices being the key prosumers. In response, 5G networks are foreseen
to markedly outperform legacy 4G systems. Triggered by the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) under the IMT-2020 network initiative, 5G
will support three broad categories of use cases: enhanced mobile broadband
(eMBB) for multi-Gbps data rate applications; ultra-reliable and low latency
communications (URLLC) for critical scenarios; and massive machine
type communications (mMTC) for massive connectivity. Among the several
technology enablers being explored for 5G, millimeter-wave (mmWave)
communication, massive MIMO antenna arrays and ultra-dense small cell
networks (UDNs) feature as the dominant technologies. These technologies
in synergy are anticipated to provide the 1000_ capacity increase for 5G
networks (relative to 4G) through the combined impact of large additional
bandwidth, spectral efficiency (SE) enhancement and high frequency reuse,
respectively. However, although these technologies can pave the way towards
gigabit wireless, there are still several challenges to solve in terms of
how we can fully harness the available bandwidth efficiently through appropriate
beamforming and channel modeling approaches. In this thesis, we
investigate the system performance enhancements realizable with mmWave
massive MIMO in 5G UDN and cellular infrastructure-to-everything (C-I2X)
application scenarios involving pedestrian and vehicular users. As a critical
component of the system-level simulation approach adopted in this thesis,
we implemented 3D channel models for the accurate characterization of the
wireless channels in these scenarios and for realistic performance evaluation.
To address the hardware cost, complexity and power consumption of the
massive MIMO architectures, we propose a novel generalized framework for
hybrid beamforming (HBF) array structures. The generalized model reveals
the opportunities that can be harnessed with the overlapped subarray structures
for a balanced trade-o_ between SE and energy efficiently (EE) of 5G
networks. The key results in this investigation show that mmWave massive
MIMO can deliver multi-Gbps rates for 5G whilst maintaining energy-efficient operation of the network.As redes LTE-A atuais não são capazes de suportar o crescimento exponencial
de tráfego que está previsto para a próxima década. De acordo
com a previsão da Ericsson, espera-se que em 2020, a nível global, 6 mil
milhões de subscritores venham a gerar mensalmente 46 exa bytes de tráfego
de dados a partir de 24 mil milhões de dispositivos ligados à rede móvel,
sendo os telefones inteligentes e dispositivos IoT de curto alcance os principais
responsáveis por tal nível de tráfego. Em resposta a esta exigência,
espera-se que as redes de 5a geração (5G) tenham um desempenho substancialmente
superior às redes de 4a geração (4G) atuais. Desencadeado pelo
UIT (União Internacional das Telecomunicações) no âmbito da iniciativa
IMT-2020, o 5G irá suportar três grandes tipos de utilizações: banda larga
móvel capaz de suportar aplicações com débitos na ordem de vários Gbps;
comunicações de baixa latência e alta fiabilidade indispensáveis em cenários
de emergência; comunicações massivas máquina-a-máquina para conectividade
generalizada. Entre as várias tecnologias capacitadoras que estão a ser
exploradas pelo 5G, as comunicações através de ondas milimétricas, os agregados
MIMO massivo e as redes celulares ultradensas (RUD) apresentam-se
como sendo as tecnologias fundamentais. Antecipa-se que o conjunto
destas tecnologias venha a fornecer às redes 5G um aumento de capacidade
de 1000x através da utilização de maiores larguras de banda, melhoria da
eficiência espectral, e elevada reutilização de frequências respetivamente.
Embora estas tecnologias possam abrir caminho para as redes sem fios
com débitos na ordem dos gigabits, existem ainda vários desafios que têm
que ser resolvidos para que seja possível aproveitar totalmente a largura de
banda disponível de maneira eficiente utilizando abordagens de formatação
de feixe e de modelação de canal adequadas. Nesta tese investigamos a
melhoria de desempenho do sistema conseguida através da utilização de
ondas milimétricas e agregados MIMO massivo em cenários de redes celulares
ultradensas de 5a geração e em cenários 'infraestrutura celular-para-qualquer
coisa' (do inglês: cellular infrastructure-to-everything) envolvendo
utilizadores pedestres e veiculares. Como um componente fundamental das
simulações de sistema utilizadas nesta tese é o canal de propagação, implementamos modelos de canal tridimensional (3D) para caracterizar de
forma precisa o canal de propagação nestes cenários e assim conseguir uma
avaliação de desempenho mais condizente com a realidade. Para resolver os
problemas associados ao custo do equipamento, complexidade e consumo
de energia das arquiteturas MIMO massivo, propomos um modelo inovador
de agregados com formatação de feixe híbrida. Este modelo genérico revela
as oportunidades que podem ser aproveitadas através da sobreposição
de sub-agregados no sentido de obter um compromisso equilibrado entre
eficiência espectral (ES) e eficiência energética (EE) nas redes 5G. Os principais
resultados desta investigação mostram que a utilização conjunta de
ondas milimétricas e de agregados MIMO massivo possibilita a obtenção, em
simultâneo, de taxas de transmissão na ordem de vários Gbps e a operação
de rede de forma energeticamente eficiente.Programa Doutoral em Telecomunicaçõe
Massive MIMO is a Reality -- What is Next? Five Promising Research Directions for Antenna Arrays
Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) is no longer a "wild" or
"promising" concept for future cellular networks - in 2018 it became a reality.
Base stations (BSs) with 64 fully digital transceiver chains were commercially
deployed in several countries, the key ingredients of Massive MIMO have made it
into the 5G standard, the signal processing methods required to achieve
unprecedented spectral efficiency have been developed, and the limitation due
to pilot contamination has been resolved. Even the development of fully digital
Massive MIMO arrays for mmWave frequencies - once viewed prohibitively
complicated and costly - is well underway. In a few years, Massive MIMO with
fully digital transceivers will be a mainstream feature at both sub-6 GHz and
mmWave frequencies. In this paper, we explain how the first chapter of the
Massive MIMO research saga has come to an end, while the story has just begun.
The coming wide-scale deployment of BSs with massive antenna arrays opens the
door to a brand new world where spatial processing capabilities are
omnipresent. In addition to mobile broadband services, the antennas can be used
for other communication applications, such as low-power machine-type or
ultra-reliable communications, as well as non-communication applications such
as radar, sensing and positioning. We outline five new Massive MIMO related
research directions: Extremely large aperture arrays, Holographic Massive MIMO,
Six-dimensional positioning, Large-scale MIMO radar, and Intelligent Massive
MIMO.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Digital Signal Processin
Ultra Dense Networks Deployment for beyond 2020 Technologies
A new communication paradigm is foreseen for beyond 2020 society, due to the emergence of new broadband services and the Internet of Things era. The set of requirements imposed by these new applications is large and diverse, aiming to provide a ubiquitous broadband connectivity. Research community has been working in the last decade towards the definition of the 5G mobile wireless networks that will provide the proper mechanisms to reach these challenging requirements. In this framework, three key research directions have been identified for the improvement of capacity in 5G: the increase of the spectral efficiency by means of, for example, the use of massive MIMO technology, the use of larger amounts of spectrum by utilizing the millimeter wave band, and the network densification by deploying more base stations per unit area.
This dissertation addresses densification as the main enabler for the broadband and massive connectivity required in future 5G networks. To this aim, this Thesis focuses on the study of the UDN. In particular, a set of technology enablers that can lead UDN to achieve their maximum efficiency and performance are investigated, namely, the use of higher frequency bands for the benefit of larger bandwidths, the use of massive MIMO with distributed antenna systems, and the use of distributed radio resource management techniques for the inter-cell interference coordination.
Firstly, this Thesis analyzes whether there exists a fundamental performance limit related with densification in cellular networks. To this end, the UDN performance is evaluated by means of an analytical model consisting of a 1-dimensional network deployment with equally spaced BS. The inter-BS distance is decreased until reaching the limit of densification when this distance approaches 0. The achievable rates in networks with different inter-BS distances are analyzed for several levels of transmission power availability, and for various types of cooperation among cells.
Moreover, UDN performance is studied in conjunction with the use of a massive number of antennas and larger amounts of spectrum. In particular, the performance of hybrid beamforming and precoding MIMO schemes are assessed in both indoor and outdoor scenarios with multiple cells and users, working in the mmW frequency band. On the one hand, beamforming schemes using the full-connected hybrid architecture are analyzed in BS with limited number of RF chains, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of these schemes in a dense-urban scenario. On the other hand, the performance of different indoor deployment strategies using HP in the mmW band is evaluated, focusing on the use of DAS. More specifically, a DHP suitable for DAS is proposed, comparing its performance with that of HP in other indoor deployment strategies. Lastly, the presence of practical limitations and hardware impairments in the use of hybrid architectures is also investigated.
Finally, the investigation of UDN is completed with the study of their main limitation, which is the increasing inter-cell interference in the network. In order to tackle this problem, an eICIC scheduling algorithm based on resource partitioning techniques is proposed. Its performance is evaluated and compared to other scheduling algorithms under several degrees of network densification.
After the completion of this study, the potential of UDN to reach the capacity requirements of 5G networks is confirmed. Nevertheless, without the use of larger portions of spectrum, a proper interference management and the use of a massive number of antennas, densification could turn into a serious problem for mobile operators. Performance evaluation results show large system capacity gains with the use of massive MIMO techniques in UDN, and even greater when the antennas are distributed. Furthermore, the application of ICIC techniques reveals that, besides the increase in system capacity, it brings significant energy savings to UDNs.A partir del año 2020 se prevé que un nuevo paradigma de comunicación surja en la sociedad, debido a la aparición de nuevos servicios y la era del Internet de las cosas. El conjunto de requisitos impuesto por estas nuevas aplicaciones es muy amplio y diverso, y tiene como principal objetivo proporcionar conectividad de banda ancha y universal. En las últimas décadas, la comunidad científica ha estado trabajando en la definición de la 5G de redes móviles que brindará los mecanismos necesarios para garantizar estos requisitos. En este marco, se han identificado tres mecanismos clave para conseguir el necesario incremento de capacidad de la red: el aumento de la eficiencia espectral a través de, por ejemplo, el uso de tecnologías MIMO masivas, la utilización de mayores porciones del espectro en frecuencia y la densificación de la red mediante el despliegue de más estaciones base por área.
Esta Tesis doctoral aborda la densificación como el principal mecanismo que permitirá la conectividad de banda ancha y universal requerida en la 5G, centrándose en el estudio de las Redes Ultra Densas o UDNs. En concreto, se analiza el conjunto de tecnologías habilitantes que pueden llevar a las UDNs a obtener su máxima eficiencia y prestaciones, incluyendo el uso de altas frecuencias para el aprovechamiento de mayores anchos de banda, la utilización de MIMO masivo con sistemas de antenas distribuidas y el uso de técnicas de reparto de recursos distribuidas para la coordinación de interferencias.
En primer lugar, se analiza si existe un límite fundamental en la mejora de las prestaciones en relación a la densificación. Con este fin, las prestaciones de las UDNs se evalúan utilizando un modelo analítico de red unidimensional con BSs equiespaciadas, en el que la distancia entre BSs se disminuye hasta alcanzar el límite de densificación cuando ésta se aproxima a 0. Las tasas alcanzables en redes con distintas distancias entre BSs son analizadas, considerando distintos niveles de potencia disponible en la red y varios grados de cooperación entre celdas.
Además, el comportamiento de las UDNs se estudia junto al uso masivo de antenas y la utilización de anchos de banda mayores. Más concretamente, las prestaciones de ciertas técnicas híbridas MIMO de precodificación y beamforming se examinan en la banda milimétrica. Por una parte, se analizan esquemas de beamforming en BSs con arquitectura híbrida en función de la disponibilidad de cadenas de radiofrecuencia en escenarios exteriores. Por otra parte, se evalúan las prestaciones de ciertos esquemas de precodificación híbrida en escenarios interiores, utilizando distintos despliegues y centrando la atención en los sistemas de antenas distribuidos o DAS. Además, se propone un algoritmo de precodificación híbrida específico para DAS, y se evalúan y comparan sus prestaciones con las de otros algoritmos de precodificación utilizados. Por último, se investiga el impacto en las prestaciones de ciertas limitaciones prácticas y deficiencias introducidas por el uso de dispositivos no ideales.
Finalmente, el estudio de las UDNs se completa con el análisis de su principal limitación, el nivel creciente de interferencia en la red. Para ello, se propone un algoritmo de control de interferencias basado en la partición de recursos. Sus prestaciones son evaluadas y comparadas con las de otras técnicas de asignación de recursos.
Tras este estudio, se puede afirmar que las UDNs tienen gran potencial para la consecución de los requisitos de la 5G. Sin embargo, sin el uso conjunto de mayores porciones del espectro, adecuadas técnicas de control de la interferencia y el uso masivo de antenas, las UDNs pueden convertirse en serios obstáculos para los operadores móviles. Los resultados de la evaluación de prestaciones de estas tecnologías confirman el gran aumento de la capacidad de las redes mediante el uso masivo de antenas y la introducción de mecanismos de IA partir de l'any 2020 es preveu un nou paradigma de comunicació en la societat, degut a l'aparició de nous serveis i la era de la Internet de les coses. El conjunt de requeriments imposat per aquestes noves aplicacions és ampli i divers, i té com a principal objectiu proporcionar connectivitat universal i de banda ampla. En les últimes dècades, la comunitat científica ha estat treballant en la definició de la 5G, que proveirà els mecanismes necessaris per a garantir aquests exigents requeriments. En aquest marc, s'han identificat tres mecanismes claus per a aconseguir l'increment necessari en la capacitat: l'augment de l'eficiència espectral a través de, per exemple, l'ús de tecnologies MIMO massives, la utilització de majors porcions de l'espectre i la densificació mitjançant el desplegament de més estacions base per àrea.
Aquesta Tesi aborda la densificació com a principal mecanisme que permetrà la connectivitat de banda ampla i universal requerida en la 5G, centrant-se en l' estudi de les xarxes ultra denses (UDNs). Concretament, el conjunt de tecnologies que poden dur a les UDNs a la seua màxima eficiència i prestacions és analitzat, incloent l'ús d'altes freqüències per a l'aprofitament de majors amplàries de banda, la utilització de MIMO massiu amb sistemes d'antenes distribuïdes i l'ús de tècniques distribuïdes de repartiment de recursos per a la coordinació de la interferència.
En primer lloc, aquesta Tesi analitza si existeix un límit fonamental en les prestacions en relació a la densificació. Per això, les prestacions de les UDNs s'avaluen utilitzant un model analític unidimensional amb estacions base equidistants, en les quals la distància entre estacions base es redueix fins assolir el límit de densificació quan aquesta distància s'aproxima a 0. Les taxes assolibles en xarxes amb diferents distàncies entre estacions base s'analitzen considerant diferents nivells de potència i varis graus de cooperació entre cel·les.
A més, el comportament de les UDNs s'estudia conjuntament amb l'ús massiu d'antenes i la utilització de majors amplàries de banda. Més concretament, les prestacions de certes tècniques híbrides MIMO de precodificació i beamforming s'examinen en la banda mil·limètrica. D'una banda, els esquemes de beamforming aplicats a estacions base amb arquitectures híbrides és analitzat amb disponibilitat limitada de cadenes de radiofreqüència a un escenari urbà dens. D'altra banda, s'avaluen les prestacions de certs esquemes de precodificació híbrida en escenaris d'interior, utilitzant diferents estratègies de desplegament i centrant l'atenció en els sistemes d' antenes distribuïdes (DAS). A més, es proposa un algoritme de precodificació híbrida distribuïda per a DAS, i s'avaluen i comparen les seues prestacions amb les de altres algoritmes. Per últim, s'investiga l'impacte de les limitacions pràctiques i altres deficiències introduïdes per l'ús de dispositius no ideals en les prestacions de tots els esquemes anteriors.
Finalment, l' estudi de les UDNs es completa amb l'anàlisi de la seua principal limitació, el nivell creixent d'interferència entre cel·les. Per tractar aquest problema, es proposa un algoritme de control d'interferències basat en la partició de recursos. Les prestacions de l'algoritme proposat s'avaluen i comparen amb les d'altres tècniques d'assignació de recursos.
Una vegada completat aquest estudi, es pot afirmar que les UDNs tenen un gran potencial per aconseguir els ambiciosos requeriments plantejats per a la 5G. Tanmateix, sense l'ús conjunt de majors amplàries de banda, apropiades tècniques de control de la interferència i l'ús massiu d'antenes, les UDNs poden convertir-se en seriosos obstacles per als operadors mòbils. Els resultats de l'avaluació de prestacions d' aquestes tecnologies confirmen el gran augment de la capacitat de les xarxes obtingut mitjançant l'ús massiu d'antenes i la introducciGiménez Colás, S. (2017). Ultra Dense Networks Deployment for beyond 2020 Technologies [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/86204TESI
Ultra-Dense Networks in 5G and Beyond: Challenges and Promising Solutions
Ultra-Dense Network (UDN) is one of the promising and leading directions in Fifth Generation and beyond (5GB) networks. In UDNs, Small Cells (SCs) or Small Base Stations (SBSs) such as microcells, picocells, or femtocells are deployed in high densities where inter-site distances are within the range of few or tens of meters. UDNs also require that SCs are typically deployed in relatively large densities compared to the Human-Type Communication Users (HTCUs) such as smartphones, tablets, and/or laptops. Such SCs are characterized by their low transmission powers, small coverage areas, and low cost. Hence, the deployment of the SCs can be done either by the cellular network operators or by the customers themselves within their premises to maintain certain levels of Quality of Service (QoS).
However, the randomness of the deployment of the SCs along with the small inter-site distances may degrade the achievable performance due to the uncontrolled Inter-Cell Interference (ICI). Therefore, idle mode capability is an inevitable feature in the high-density regime of SCs. In idle mode, a SC is switched off to prevent ICI when no user is associated to it. In doing so, we can imagine the UDN as a mobile network that keeps following the users to remain as close as possible to them.
In 5G, different use cases are required to be supported such as enhanced Mobile Broad-Band (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), and massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC). On one hand, the inevitable upcoming era of smart living requires unprecedented advances in enabling technologies to support the main building blocks of this era which are Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Machine-Type Communication (MTC), the cellular version of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication, constitutes the main enabling technology to support communications among such devices with minimal or even without human intervention. The massive number of these devices, Machine-Type Communication Devices (MTCDs), and the immense amount of traffic generated by them require a paramount shift in cellular and non-cellular wireless technologies to achieve the required connectivity. On the other hand, the sky-rocketing number of data hungry applications installed on human-held devices, or HTCUs, such as video conferencing and virtual reality applications require their own advances in the wireless infrastructure in terms of high capacity, enhanced reliability, and reduced latency.
Throughout this thesis, we exploit the UDN infrastructure integrated with other 5G resources and enabling technologies to explore the possible opportunities in supporting both HTC and MTC, either solely or simultaneously. Given the shorter distances between transmitters and receivers encountered in UDNs, more realistic models of the path loss must be adopted such as the Stretched Exponential Path Loss (SEPL) model. We use tools from stochastic geometry to formulate novel mathematical frameworks that can be used to investigate the achievable performance without having to rely on extensive time-consuming Monte-Carlo simulations. Besides, the derived analytical expressions can be used to tune some system parameters or to propose some approaches/techniques that can be followed to optimize the performance of the system under certain circumstances.
Tackling practical scenarios, the complexity, or sometimes in-feasibility, of providing unlimited backhaul capacity for the massive number of SCs must be considered. In this regard, we adopt multiple-association where each HTCU is allowed to associate with multiple SCs. By doing so, we carefully split the targeted traffic among several backhaul links to mitigate the bottleneck forced by limited backhaul capacities. It is noteworthy that for coexisting MTCDs with the HTCUs, activating more SCs would allow more MTCDs to be supported without introducing additional ICI towards the HTCUs.
Targeting different application, multiple-association can be also adopted to tackle computation-intensive applications of HTCUs. In particular, for applications such as augmented reality and environment recognition that require heavy computations, a task is split and partially offloaded to multiple SCs with integrated Edge Computing Servers (ECSs). Then, the task partitions are processed in parallel to reduce the end-to-end processing delay. Based on relative densities between HTCUs and SCs, we use tools from stochastic geometry to develop an offline adaptive task division technique that further reduces the average end-to-end processing delay per user.
With the frequent serious data breaches experienced in recent years, securing data has become more of a business risk rather than an information technology (IT) issue. Hence, we exploit the dense number of SCs found in UDN along with Physical Layer Security (PLS) protocols to secure data transfer. In particular, we again adopt multiple-association and split the data of HTCUs into multiple streams originating from different SCs to prevent illegitimate receivers from eavesdropping.
To support massive number of MTCDs, we deploy the Non-Orthogonal Multiple-Access (NOMA) technique. Using power NOMA, more than one device can be supported over the same frequency/time resource and their signals are distinguished at the receiver using Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC). In the same scope, exploiting the available resources in 5G and beyond networks, we investigate a mMTC scenario in an UDN operating in the Millimeter Wave (mmWave) band and supported by wireless backhauling. In doing so, we shed lights on the possible gains of utilizing the mmWave band where the severe penetration losses of mmWave can be exploited to mitigate the significant ICI in UDNs. Also, the vast bandwidth available in the mmWave band helps to allocate more Resource Blocks (RBs) per SCs which corresponds to supporting more MTCDs
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