Improvement of 5G performance through network densification in millimetre wave band

Recently, there has been a substantial growth in mobile data traffic due to the widespread of data hungry devices such as mobiles and laptops. The anticipated high traffic demands and low latency requirements stemmed from the Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine Type Communications (MTC) can only be met with radical changes to the network paradigm such as harnessing the millimetre wave (mmWave) band in Ultra-Dense Network (UDN). This thesis presents many challenges, problems and questions that arise in research and design stage of 5G network. The main challenges of 5G in mmWave can be characterised with the following attributes: i- huge traffic demands, with very high data rate requirements, ii- high interference in UDN, iii increased handover in UDN, higher dependency on Line of Sight (LOS) coverage and high shadow fading, and iv-massive MTC traffic due to billions of connected devices. In this work, software simulation tools have been used to evaluate the proposed solutions. Therefore, we have introduced 5G network based on network densification. Network densification includes densification over frequency through mmWave, and densification over space through higher number of antennas, Higher Order Sectorisation (HOS), and denser deployment of small-cells. Our results show that the densification theme has significantly improved network capacity and user Quality of Experience (QoE). UDN network can efficiently raise the user experience to the level that 5G vision promised. However, one of the drawback of using UDN and HOS is the significant increase in Inter-Cell Interference (ICI). Therefore, ICI has been addressed in this work to increase the gain of densification. ICI can degrade the performance of wireless network, particularly in UDN due to the increased interference from surrounding cells. We have used Fractional Frequency Reuse (FFR) as ICI Coordination (ICIC) for UDN network and HOS environment. The work shows that FFR has improved the network performance in terms of cell-edge data throughput and average cell throughput, and maintain the peak data throughput at a certain threshold. Additionally, HOS has shown even greater gain over default sectored sites when the interference is carefully coordinated. To generalise the principle of densification, we have introduced Distributed Base Station (DBS) as the envisioned network architecture for 5G in mmWave. Remotely distributed antennas in DBS architecture have been harnessed in order to compensate for the high path loss that characterise mmWave propagation. The proposed architecture has significantly improved the user data throughput, decreased the unnecessary handovers as a result of dense network, increased the LOS coverage probability, and reduced the impact of shadow fading. Additionally, this research discusses the regulatory requirements at mmWave band for the Maximum Permissible Exposure (MPE). Finally, scheduling massive MTC traffic in 5G has been considered. MTC is expected to contribute to the majority of IoT traffic. In this context, an algorithm has been developed to schedule this type of traffic. The results demonstrate the gain of using distributed antennas on MTC traffic in terms of spectral efficiency, data throughput, and fairness. The results show considerable improvement in the performance metrics. The combination of these contributions has provided remarkable increase in data throughput to achieve the 5G vision of “massive” capacity and to support human and machine traffic

Interference Aware Cognitive Femtocell Networks

Femtocells Access Points (FAP) are low power, plug and play home base stations which are designed to extend the cellular radio range in indoor environments where macrocell coverage is generally poor. They offer significant increases in data rates over a short range, enabling high speed wireless and mobile broadband services, with the femtocell network overlaid onto the macrocell in a dual-tier arrangement. In contrast to conventional cellular systems which are well planned, FAP are arbitrarily installed by the end users and this can create harmful interference to both collocated femtocell and macrocell users. The interference becomes particularly serious in high FAP density scenarios and compromises the ensuing data rate. Consequently, effective management of both cross and co-tier interference is a major design challenge in dual-tier networks. Since traditional radio resource management techniques and architectures for single-tier systems are either not applicable or operate inefficiently, innovative dual-tier approaches to intelligently manage interference are required. This thesis presents a number of original contributions to fulfill this objective including, a new hybrid cross-tier spectrum sharing model which builds upon an existing fractional frequency reuse technique to ensure minimal impact on the macro-tier resource allocation. A new flexible and adaptive virtual clustering framework is then formulated to alleviate co-tier interference in high FAP densities situations and finally, an intelligent coverage extension algorithm is developed to mitigate excessive femto-macrocell handovers, while upholding the required quality of service provision. This thesis contends that to exploit the undoubted potential of dual-tier, macro-femtocell architectures an interference awareness solution is necessary. Rigorous evidence confirms that noteworthy performance improvements can be achieved in the quality of the received signal and throughput by applying cognitive methods to manage interference

Planning and dynamic spectrum management in heterogeneous mobile networks with QoE optimization

The radio and network planning and optimisation are continuous processes that do not end after the network has been launched. To achieve the best trade-offs, especially between quality and costs, operators make use of several coverage and capacity enhancement methods. The research from this thesis proposes methods such as the implementation of cell zooming and Relay Stations (RSs) with dynamic sleep modes and Carrier Aggregation (CA) for coverage and capacity enhancements. Initially, a survey is presented on ubiquitous mesh networks implementation scenarios and an updated characterization of requirements for services and applications is proposed. The performance targets for the key parameters, delay, delay variation, information loss and throughput have been addressed for all types of services. Furthermore, with the increased competition, mobile operator’s success does not only depend on how good the offered Quality of Service (QoS) is, but also if it meets the end user’s expectations, i.e., Quality of Experience (QoE). In this context, a model for the mapping between QoS parameters and QoE has been proposed for multimedia traffic. The planning and optimization of fixed Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) networks with RSs in conjunction with cell zooming has been addressed. The challenging case of a propagation measurement-based scenario in the hilly region of Covilhã has been considered. A cost/revenue function has been developed by taking into account the cost of building and maintaining the infrastructure with the use of RSs. This part of the work also investigates the energy efficiency and economic implications of the use of power saving modes for RSs in conjunction with cell zooming. Assuming that the RSs can be switched-off or zoomed out to zero in periods when the traffic exchange is low, such as nights and weekends, it has been shown that energy consumption may be reduced whereas cellular coverage and capacity, as well as economic performance may be improved. An integrated Common Radio Resource Management (iCRRM) entity is proposed that implements inter-band CA by performing scheduling between two Long Term Evolution – Advanced (LTE-A) Component Carriers (CCs). Considering the bandwidths available in Portugal, the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz CCs have been considered whilst mobile video traffic is addressed. Through extensive simulations it has been found that the proposed multi-band schedulers overcome the capacity of LTE systems without CA. Result shown a clear improvement of the QoS, QoE and economic trade-off with CA

Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments

The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on "Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments". The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. Topics discussed in this book include: • Radio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments• Measurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks• Key issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication• Wireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs• Energy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks• Definitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures• Advances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques• Recent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications• Physical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems• Methods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testin

Cooperative Radio Communications for Green Smart Environments

The demand for mobile connectivity is continuously increasing, and by 2020 Mobile and Wireless Communications will serve not only very dense populations of mobile phones and nomadic computers, but also the expected multiplicity of devices and sensors located in machines, vehicles, health systems and city infrastructures. Future Mobile Networks are then faced with many new scenarios and use cases, which will load the networks with different data traffic patterns, in new or shared spectrum bands, creating new specific requirements. This book addresses both the techniques to model, analyse and optimise the radio links and transmission systems in such scenarios, together with the most advanced radio access, resource management and mobile networking technologies. This text summarises the work performed by more than 500 researchers from more than 120 institutions in Europe, America and Asia, from both academia and industries, within the framework of the COST IC1004 Action on "Cooperative Radio Communications for Green and Smart Environments". The book will have appeal to graduates and researchers in the Radio Communications area, and also to engineers working in the Wireless industry. Topics discussed in this book include: • Radio waves propagation phenomena in diverse urban, indoor, vehicular and body environments• Measurements, characterization, and modelling of radio channels beyond 4G networks• Key issues in Vehicle (V2X) communication• Wireless Body Area Networks, including specific Radio Channel Models for WBANs• Energy efficiency and resource management enhancements in Radio Access Networks• Definitions and models for the virtualised and cloud RAN architectures• Advances on feasible indoor localization and tracking techniques• Recent findings and innovations in antenna systems for communications• Physical Layer Network Coding for next generation wireless systems• Methods and techniques for MIMO Over the Air (OTA) testin

Mobilfunknetzmanagement im Kontext von Realistischen Heterogenen Szenarien

Every generation of mobile radio communication standards leads to a new level of complexity in the cellular systems. Moreover, due to the ever-increasing data traffic demands of mobile users as well as declining revenues in recent years, the operators of such networks have to deal with all those network administration difficulties in the most efficient manner. One promising approach that shall relieve the operator from time-consuming manual tasks is to use so-called Self-Organising Network (SON) functionalities. SON functions monitor the performance of the network and change the (radio) parameters accordingly, based on internal algorithms that focus on dedicated optimisation goals. This work investigates whether SON functions can be used to enforce Key Performance Indicator (KPI) targets demanded by the operators. Therefore, the impact of SON on the network manageability and performance is studied by using SON functions that consider multiple technologies (i.e. LTE and WLAN) and different cell layers (macro and small cells). The evaluations are based on sophisticated system-level simulations that rely on an in-house developed platform called ``SiMoNe'' (Simulator for Mobile Networks). Moreover, the foundations of the scenarios used are realistically planned mobile networks on the one hand, and advanced mobility models with a particular emphasis on realistic movements and behaviours, on the other hand. As a preparatory step, the newly introduced mobility models are investigated regarding the handover performance. The results show that the behaviour and nature of the movements have a profound impact on the overall network performance. After that, three well-known SON functions are tested that operate in the domain of self-optimisation. This is done by varying SON algorithm parameterisation values in three distinct network environments. The insights gained into the behaviour of the SON functions are then used to manage a complex heterogeneous cellular network by setting appropriate SON parametrisation values that alter the behaviour of SON functions accordingly. By that, the formulated KPI goals can be achieved. However, the evaluations show that the implementations of the objectives are only doable to some extent in realistic settings due to the compound and inhomogeneous nature of the network scenarios.Jede neue Mobilfunk-Generation sorgt dafür, dass die Komplexität in den Netzen zunimmt. Außerdem führt die immer weiter steigende Nachfrage nach mobilem Datenverkehr sowie sinkende Einnahmen dazu, dass die Betreiber solcher Netze mit administrativen Aufgaben in möglichst effizienter Weise umgehen müssen. Eine Möglichkeit stellen sogenannte Selbst-Organisierende Netze (engl. Self-Organising Network (SON)) dar, um den Betreiber von zeitaufwendigen manuellen Arbeiten zu befreien. SON Funktionen überwachen Kenngrößen im Netz und ändern, je nach Zielfunktion des Algorithmus, entsprechende (Radio-)Parameter im Netz. Diese Dissertation untersucht, ob SON Funktionen geeignet sind um ein Mobilfunknetz zu steuern und somit vorgegebene Zielvorgaben der Netzbetreiber umzusetzen. Die verwendeten SON Funktionen arbeiten hierbei mit unterschiedlichen Technologien (z.B. LTE und WLAN) und auf mehreren Zellschichten (Makro- bis Femtozellen). Als Simulationsumgebung wird auf die leistungsfähige Plattform ``SiMoNe'' (engl. Simulator for Mobile Networks) zurückgegriffen. Die Simulationsgrundlagen bilden einerseits realistisch geplante Mobilfunknetze und anderseits fortschrittliche Mobilitätsmodelle, wobei eine besondere Betonung auf die realistische Umsetzung von Bewegung und Verhalten der Nutzer gelegt wird. In einem vorbereitenden Schritt werden neuartige Mobilitätsmodelle auf ihr Handover-Verhalten untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen hierbei, dass das Verhalten und die Bewegung einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Netzperformance haben können. Im Anschluss werden drei bekannte SON Funktionen in drei unterschiedlichen Netzumgebungen getestet. Dies geschieht durch eine Variation der Parameterwerte der SON Algorithmen, welche das Verhalten der Funktionen verändern und somit auch die Netzperformances entscheidend beeinflussen kann. Die über das Verhalten der SON Funktionen gesammelten Erkenntnisse werden letztendlich genutzt, um Zielvorgaben an ein komplexes heterogenes Mobilfunknetzwerk zu realisieren. Die Auswertungen zeigen, dass dies nur in einem gewissen Maße geschehen kann. Die hohe Komplexität und die inhomogene Topologie der Netze beeinträchtigen eine zielgenaue Veränderung der Netzperformance entscheidend

Estimating Movement from Mobile Telephony Data

Mobile enabled devices are ubiquitous in modern society. The information gathered by their normal service operations has become one of the primary data sources used in the understanding of human mobility, social connection and information transfer. This thesis investigates techniques that can extract useful information from anonymised call detail records (CDR). CDR consist of mobile subscriber data related to people in connection with the network operators, the nature of their communication activity (voice, SMS, data, etc.), duration of the activity and starting time of the activity and servicing cell identification numbers of both the sender and the receiver when available. The main contributions of the research are a methodology for distance measurements which enables the identification of mobile subscriber travel paths and a methodology for population density estimation based on significant mobile subscriber regions of interest. In addition, insights are given into how a mobile network operator may use geographically located subscriber data to create new revenue streams and improved network performance. A range of novel algorithms and techniques underpin the development of these methodologies. These include, among others, techniques for CDR feature extraction, data visualisation and CDR data cleansing. The primary data source used in this body of work was the CDR of Meteor, a mobile network operator in the Republic of Ireland. The Meteor network under investigation has just over 1 million customers, which represents approximately a quarter of the country’s 4.6 million inhabitants, and operates using both 2G and 3G cellular telephony technologies. Results show that the steady state vector analysis of modified Markov chain mobility models can return population density estimates comparable to population estimates obtained through a census. Evaluated using a test dataset, results of travel path identification showed that developed distance measurements achieved greater accuracy when classifying the routes CDR journey trajectories took compared to traditional trajectory distance measurements. Results from subscriber segmentation indicate that subscribers who have perceived similar relationships to geographical features can be grouped based on weighted steady state mobility vectors. Overall, this thesis proposes novel algorithms and techniques for the estimation of movement from mobile telephony data addressing practical issues related to sampling, privacy and spatial uncertainty