Low-Complexity Multi-User MIMO Algorithms for mmWave WLANs

Very high throughput and high-efficiency wireless local area networks (WLANs) have become essential for today's significant global Internet traffic and the expected significant global increase of public WiFi hotspots. Total Internet traffic is predicted to expand 3.7-fold from 2017 to 2022. In 2017, 53% of overall Internet traffic used by WiFi networks, and that number is expected to increase to 56.8% by 2022. Furthermore, 80% of overall Internet traffic is expected to be video traffic by 2022, up from 70% in 2017. WiFi networks are also expected to move towards denser deployment scenarios, such as stadiums, large office buildings, and airports, with very high data rate applications, such as ultra-high definition video wireless streaming. Thus, in order to meet the predicted growth of wireless traffic and the number of WiFi networks in the world, an efficient Internet access solution is required for the current IEEE 802.11 standards. Millimeter wave (mmWave) communication technology is expected to play a crucial role in future wireless networks with large user populations because of the large spectrum band it can provide. To further improve spectrum efficiency over mmWave bands in WLANs with large numbers of users, the IEEE 802.11ay standard was developed from the traditional IEEE 802.11ad standard, aiming to support multi-user MIMO. Propagation challenges associated with mmWave bands necessitate the use of analog beamforming (BF) technologies that employ directional transmissions to determine the optimal sector beam between a transmitter and a receiver. However, the multi-user MIMO is not exploited, since analog BF is limited to a single-user, single-transmission. The computational complexity of achieving traditional multi-user MIMO BF methods, such as full digital BF, in the mmWave systems becomes significant due to the hardware constraints. Our research focuses on how to effectively and efficiently realize multi-user MIMO transmission to improve spectrum efficiency over the IEEE 802.11ay mmWave band system while also resolving the computational complexity challenges for achieving a multi-user MIMO in mmWave systems. This thesis focuses on MAC protocol algorithms and analysis of the IEEE 802.11ay mmWave WLANs to provide multi-user MIMO support in various scenarios to improve the spectrum efficiency and system throughput. Specifically, from a downlink single-hop scenario perspective, a VG algorithm is proposed to schedule simultaneous downlink transmission links while mitigating the multi-user interference with no additional computational complexity. From a downlink multi-hop scenario perspective, a low-complexity MHVG algorithm is conducted to realize simultaneous transmissions and improve the network performance by taking advantage of the spatial reuse in a dense network. The proposed MHVG algorithm permits simultaneous links scheduling and mitigates both the multi-user interference and co-channel interference based only on analog BF information, without the necessity for feedback overhead, such as channel state information (CSI). From an uplink scenario perspective, a low-complexity user selection algorithm, HBF-VG, incorporates user selection with the HBF algorithm to achieve simultaneous uplink transmissions for IEEE 802.11ay mmWave WLANs. With the HBF-VG algorithm, the users can be selected based on an orthogonality criterion instead of collecting CSI from all potential users. We optimize the digital BF to mitigate the residual interference among selected users. Extensive analytical and simulation evaluations are provided to validate the performance of the proposed algorithms with respect to average throughput per time slot, average network throughput, average sum-rate, energy efficiency, signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), and spatial multiplexing gain

Coexistence and interference mitigation for WPANs and WLANs from traditional approaches to deep learning: a review

More and more devices, such as Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4 devices forming Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) and IEEE 802.11 devices constituting Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), share the 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band in the realm of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities. However, the coexistence of these devices could pose a real challenge—co-channel interference that would severely compromise network performances. Although the coexistence issues has been partially discussed elsewhere in some articles, there is no single review that fully summarises and compares recent research outcomes and challenges of IEEE 802.15.4 networks, Bluetooth and WLANs together. In this work, we revisit and provide a comprehensive review on the coexistence and interference mitigation for those three types of networks. We summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the current methodologies, analysis and simulation models in terms of numerous important metrics such as the packet reception ratio, latency, scalability and energy efficiency. We discover that although Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4 networks are both WPANs, they show quite different performances in the presence of WLANs. IEEE 802.15.4 networks are adversely impacted by WLANs, whereas WLANs are interfered by Bluetooth. When IEEE 802.15.4 networks and Bluetooth co-locate, they are unlikely to harm each other. Finally, we also discuss the future research trends and challenges especially Deep-Learning and Reinforcement-Learning-based approaches to detecting and mitigating the co-channel interference caused by WPANs and WLANs

Heterogeneous integration of optical wireless communications within next generation networks

Unprecedented traffic growth is expected in future wireless networks and new technologies will be needed to satisfy demand. Optical wireless (OW) communication offers vast unused spectrum and high area spectral efficiency. In this work, optical cells are envisioned as supplementary access points within heterogeneous RF/OW networks. These networks opportunistically offload traffic to optical cells while utilizing the RF cell for highly mobile devices and devices that lack a reliable OW connection. Visible light communication (VLC) is considered as a potential OW technology due to the increasing adoption of solid state lighting for indoor illumination. Results of this work focus on a full system view of RF/OW HetNets with three primary areas of analysis. First, the need for network densication beyond current RF small cell implementations is evaluated. A media independent model is developed and results are presented that provide motivation for the adoption of hyper dense small cells as complementary components within multi-tier networks. Next, the relationships between RF and OW constraints and link characterization parameters are evaluated in order to define methods for fair comparison when user-centric channel selection criteria are used. RF and OW noise and interference characterization techniques are compared and common OW characterization models are demonstrated to show errors in excess of 100x when dominant interferers are present. Finally, dynamic characteristics of hyper dense OW networks are investigated in order to optimize traffic distribution from a network-centric perspective. A Kalman Filter model is presented to predict device motion for improved channel selection and a novel OW range expansion technique is presented that dynamically alters coverage regions of OW cells by 50%. In addition to analytical results, the dissertation describes two tools that have been created for evaluation of RF/OW HetNets. A communication and lighting simulation toolkit has been developed for modeling and evaluation of environments with VLC-enabled luminaires. The toolkit enhances an iterative site based impulse response simulator model to utilize GPU acceleration and achieves 10x speedup over the previous model. A software defined testbed for OW has also been proposed and applied. The testbed implements a VLC link and a heterogeneous RF/VLC connection that demonstrates the RF/OW HetNet concept as proof of concept

Developing an SDWN Architecture for Wireless Network Engineering to Support a Quality of Experience Aware Handover

The massive growth of data consumption and the variety of wireless technology emergence has made the handover (HO) an attractive research topic nowadays, mainly due to the popularity of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), which allow users to reach high-speed data communication while they are in movement. Moreover, mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones have also become increasingly popular due to their low cost and ease of use, and an increase in mobile device use is expected to accelerate in the coming years, along with the availability and use of applications such as real-time services and online gaming. The traditional HO methods will likely not meet the requirements of mobile devices for modern applications due to the lack of intelligence, lack of awareness Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements of mobile users. We, therefore, introduce a novel architecture that supports horizontal HO in homogenous networks. This architecture is based on the Software-Defined Wireless Networking (SDWN) concept, where the wireless network is controlled centrally and the wireless Access Points (APs) are programmable. In this architecture, HO algorithms will assist wireless users to find the network that could best support the application requirements through Quality of Service (QoS) and Quality of Experience (QoE) management policies. The first HO algorithm proposed in this thesis is called Quality of Experience Oriented Handover Algorithm. This algorithm will guarantee the best possible connectivity to the users in terms of their QoE and QoS requirements and outperforms the traditional methods in a sparse network environment. The second contribution is called Optimised Handover Algorithm for Dense WLAN Environments. This algorithm has been designed to address dense network environments via taking into consideration the Adaptive Hysteresis Value (AHV). The AHV will help the Optimised Handover Algorithm via reducing the so-called ping-pong effect. This contribution shows promising performance results by selecting the best candidate AP, decreasing the number of redundant HO and avoiding the ping-pong effect. The final contribution is called Priority Based Handover Algorithm. We extended our proposed SDWN architecture in order to include the concept of prioritising users and make a smart decision during the process of HO. This algorithm will prioritise a certain class of users to avoid the effect of the over-congestion. The results show that the approach based on priority outperforms the state of the art and provides better QoE to the high priority users despite the over-congestion situation

Flexible Spectrum Assignment for Local Wireless Networks

In this dissertation, we consider the problem of assigning spectrum to wireless local-area networks (WLANs). In line with recent IEEE 802.11 amendments and newer hardware capabilities, we consider situations where wireless nodes have the ability to adapt not only their channel center-frequency but also their channel width. This capability brings an important additional degree of freedom, which adds more granularity and potentially enables more efficient spectrum assignments. However, it also comes with new challenges; when consuming a varying amount of spectrum, the nodes should not only seek to reduce interference, but they should also seek to efficiently fill the available spectrum. Furthermore, the performances obtained in practice are especially difficult to predict when nodes employ variable bandwidths. We first propose an algorithm that acts in a decentralized way, with no communication among the neighboring access points (APs). Despite being decentralized, this algorithm is self-organizing and solves an explicit tradeoff between interference mitigation and efficient spectrum usage. In order for the APs to continuously adapt their spectrum to neighboring conditions while using only one network interface, this algorithm relies on a new kind of measurement, during which the APs monitor their surrounding networks for short durations. We implement this algorithm on a testbed and observe drastic performance gains compared to default spectrum assignments, or compared to efficient assignments using a fixed channel width. Next, we propose a procedure to explicitly predict the performance achievable in practice, when nodes operate with arbitrary spectrum configurations, traffic intensities, transmit powers, etc. This problem is notoriously difficult, as it requires capturing several complex interactions that take place at the MAC and PHY layers. Rather than trying to find an explicit model acting at this level of generality, we explore a different point in the design space. Using a limited number of real-world measurements, we use supervised machine-learning techniques to learn implicit performance models. We observe that these models largely outperform other measurement-based models based on SINR, and that they perform well, even when they are used to predict performance in contexts very different from the context prevailing during the initial set of measurements used for learning. We then build a second algorithm that uses the above-mentioned learned models to assign the spectrum. This algorithm is distributed and collaborative, meaning that neighboring APs have to exchange a limited amount of control traffic. It is also utility-optimal -- a feature enabled both by the presence of a model for predicting performance and the ability of APs to collaboratively take decisions. We implement this algorithm on a testbed, and we design a simple scheme that enables neighboring APs to discover themselves and to implement collaboration using their wired backbone network. We observe that it is possible to effectively gear the performance obtained in practice towards different objectives (in terms of efficiency and/or fairness), depending on the utility functions optimized by the nodes. Finally, we study the problem of scheduling packets both in time and frequency domains. Such ways of scheduling packets have been made possible by recent progress in system design, which make it possible to dynamically tune and negotiate the spectrum band [...

Measurement and Optimization of LTE Performance

4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile system is the fourth generation communication system adopted worldwide to provide high-speed data connections and high-quality voice calls. Given the recent deployment by mobile service providers, unlike GSM and UMTS, LTE can be still considered to be in its early stages and therefore many topics still raise great interest among the international scientific research community: network performance assessment, network optimization, selective scheduling, interference management and coexistence with other communication systems in the unlicensed band, methods to evaluate human exposure to electromagnetic radiation are, as a matter of fact, still open issues. In this work techniques adopted to increase LTE radio performances are investigated. One of the most wide-spread solutions proposed by the standard is to implement MIMO techniques and within a few years, to overcome the scarcity of spectrum, LTE network operators will offload data traffic by accessing the unlicensed 5 GHz frequency. Our Research deals with an evaluation of 3GPP standard in a real test best scenario to evaluate network behavior and performance

Spectrum sharing and management techniques in mobile networks

Το φάσμα συχνοτήτων αποδεικνύεται σπάνιο κομμάτι για τους πόρους ενός κινητού δικτύου το οποίο πρέπει να ληφθεί υπόψιν στη σχεδίαση τηλεπικοινωνιακών συστημάτων 5ης γενιάς. Επιπλέον οι πάροχοι κινητών δικτύων θα πρέπει να επαναπροσδιορίσουν επιχειρησιακά μοντέλα τα οποία μέχρι τώρα δεν θεωρούνταν αναγκαία (π.χ., γνωσιακά ραδιοδίκτυα), ή να εξετάσουν την υιοθέτηση νέων μοντέλων που αναδεικνύονται (π.χ., αδειοδοτούμενη από κοινού πρόσβαση) ώστε να καλύψουν τις ολοένα αυξανόμενες ανάγκες για εύρος ζώνης. Ο μερισμός φάσματος θεωρείται αναπόφευκτος για συστήματα 5G και η διατριβή παρέχει λύση για προσαρμοστικό μερισμό φάσματος με πολλαπλά καθεστώτα εξουσιοδότησης, βάσει ενός καινοτόμου αρχιτεκτονικού πλαισίου το οποίο επιτρέπει στα δικτυακά στοιχεία να λαμβάνουν αποφάσεις για απόκτηση φάσματος. Η προτεινόμενη διαδικασία λήψης αποφάσεων είναι μία καινοτόμα τεχνική προσαρμοστικού μερισμού φάσματος βασιζόμενη σε ελεγκτές ασαφούς λογικής που καθορίζονν το καταλληλότερο σχήμα μερισμού φάσματος και σε ενισχυμένη μάθηση που ρυθμίζει τους κανόνες ασαφούς λογικής, στοχεύοντας να βρει τη βέλτιστη πολιτική που πρέπει να ακολουθεί ο πάροχος ώστε να προσφέρει την επιθυμητή ποιότητα υπηρεσιών στους χρήστες, διατηρώντας πόρους (οικονομικούς ή ραδιοπόρους) όπου είναι εφικτό. Η τελευταία συνεισφορά της διατριβής είναι ένας μηχανισμός που εξασφαλίζει δίκαιη πρόσβαση σε φάσμα ανάμεσα σε χρήστες σε σενάρια στα οποία η εκχώρηση άδειας χρήσης φάσματος δεν είναι προαπαιτούμενη.Radio spectrum has loomed out to be a scarce resource that needs to be carefully considered when designing 5G communication systems and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) will need to revisit business models that were not of their prior interest (e.g. Cognitive Radio) or consider adopting new business models that emerge (e.g. Licensed Shared Access) so as to cover the extended capacity needs. Spectrum sharing is considered unavoidable for 5G systems and this thesis provides a solution for adaptive spectrum sharing under multiple authorization regimes based on a novel architecture framework that enables network elements to proceed in decisions for spectrum acquisition. The decision making process for spectrum acquisition proposed is a novel Adaptive Spectrum Sharing technique that uses Fuzzy Logic controllers to determine the most suitable spectrum sharing option and reinforcement learning to tune the fuzzy logic rules, aiming to find an optimal policy that MNO should follow in order to offer the desirable Quality of Service to its users, while preserving resources (either economical, or radio) when possible. The final contribution of this thesis is a mechanism that ensures fair access to spectrum among the users in scenarios in which conveying spectrum license is not prerequisite