Resource Allocation for Network-Integrated Device-to-Device Communications Using Smart Relays

With increasing number of autonomous heterogeneous devices in future mobile networks, an efficient resource allocation scheme is required to maximize network throughput and achieve higher spectral efficiency. In this paper, performance of network-integrated device-to-device (D2D) communication is investigated where D2D traffic is carried through relay nodes. An optimization problem is formulated for allocating radio resources to maximize end-to-end rate as well as conversing QoS requirements for cellular and D2D user equipment under total power constraint. Numerical results show that there is a distance threshold beyond which relay-assisted D2D communication significantly improves network performance when compared to direct communication between D2D peers

Dynamic Time-domain Duplexing for Self-backhauled Millimeter Wave Cellular Networks

Millimeter wave (mmW) bands between 30 and 300 GHz have attracted considerable attention for next-generation cellular networks due to vast quantities of available spectrum and the possibility of very high-dimensional antenna ar-rays. However, a key issue in these systems is range: mmW signals are extremely vulnerable to shadowing and poor high-frequency propagation. Multi-hop relaying is therefore a natural technology for such systems to improve cell range and cell edge rates without the addition of wired access points. This paper studies the problem of scheduling for a simple infrastructure cellular relay system where communication between wired base stations and User Equipment follow a hierarchical tree structure through fixed relay nodes. Such a systems builds naturally on existing cellular mmW backhaul by adding mmW in the access links. A key feature of the proposed system is that TDD duplexing selections can be made on a link-by-link basis due to directional isolation from other links. We devise an efficient, greedy algorithm for centralized scheduling that maximizes network utility by jointly optimizing the duplexing schedule and resources allocation for dense, relay-enhanced OFDMA/TDD mmW networks. The proposed algorithm can dynamically adapt to loading, channel conditions and traffic demands. Significant throughput gains and improved resource utilization offered by our algorithm over the static, globally-synchronized TDD patterns are demonstrated through simulations based on empirically-derived channel models at 28 GHz.Comment: IEEE Workshop on Next Generation Backhaul/Fronthaul Networks - BackNets 201

Delay-Optimal Relay Selection in Device-to-Device Communications for Smart Grid

The smart grid communication network adopts a hierarchical structure which consists of three kinds of networks which are Home Area Networks (HANs), Neighborhood Area Networks (NANs), and Wide Area Networks (WANs). The smart grid NANs comprise of the communication infrastructure used to manage the electricity distribution to the end users. Cellular technology with LTE-based standards is a widely-used and forward-looking technology hence becomes a promising technology that can meet the requirements of different applications in NANs. However, the LTE has a limitation to cope with the data traffic characteristics of smart grid applications, thus require for enhancements. Device-to-Device (D2D) communications enable direct data transmissions between devices by exploiting the cellular resources, which could guarantee the improvement of LTE performances. Delay is one of the important communication requirements for the real-time smart grid applications. In this paper, the application of D2D communications for the smart grid NANs is investigated to improve the average end-to-end delay of the system. A relay selection algorithm that considers both the queue state and the channel state of nodes is proposed. The optimization problem is formulated as a constrained Markov decision process (CMDP) and a linear programming method is used to find the optimal policy for the CMDP problem. Simulation results are presented to prove the effectiveness of the proposed scheme

A Survey on Wireless Security: Technical Challenges, Recent Advances and Future Trends

This paper examines the security vulnerabilities and threats imposed by the inherent open nature of wireless communications and to devise efficient defense mechanisms for improving the wireless network security. We first summarize the security requirements of wireless networks, including their authenticity, confidentiality, integrity and availability issues. Next, a comprehensive overview of security attacks encountered in wireless networks is presented in view of the network protocol architecture, where the potential security threats are discussed at each protocol layer. We also provide a survey of the existing security protocols and algorithms that are adopted in the existing wireless network standards, such as the Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and the long-term evolution (LTE) systems. Then, we discuss the state-of-the-art in physical-layer security, which is an emerging technique of securing the open communications environment against eavesdropping attacks at the physical layer. We also introduce the family of various jamming attacks and their counter-measures, including the constant jammer, intermittent jammer, reactive jammer, adaptive jammer and intelligent jammer. Additionally, we discuss the integration of physical-layer security into existing authentication and cryptography mechanisms for further securing wireless networks. Finally, some technical challenges which remain unresolved at the time of writing are summarized and the future trends in wireless security are discussed.Comment: 36 pages. Accepted to Appear in Proceedings of the IEEE, 201

Game-theoretic Resource Allocation Methods for Device-to-Device (D2D) Communication

Device-to-device (D2D) communication underlaying cellular networks allows mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to use the licensed spectrum allocated to cellular services for direct peer-to-peer transmission. D2D communication can use either one-hop transmission (i.e., in D2D direct communication) or multi-hop cluster-based transmission (i.e., in D2D local area networks). The D2D devices can compete or cooperate with each other to reuse the radio resources in D2D networks. Therefore, resource allocation and access for D2D communication can be treated as games. The theories behind these games provide a variety of mathematical tools to effectively model and analyze the individual or group behaviors of D2D users. In addition, game models can provide distributed solutions to the resource allocation problems for D2D communication. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the applications of game-theoretic models to study the radio resource allocation issues in D2D communication. The article also outlines several key open research directions.Comment: Accepted. IEEE Wireless Comms Mag. 201

Network Formation Games Among Relay Stations in Next Generation Wireless Networks

The introduction of relay station (RS) nodes is a key feature in next generation wireless networks such as 3GPP's long term evolution advanced (LTE-Advanced), or the forthcoming IEEE 802.16j WiMAX standard. This paper presents, using game theory, a novel approach for the formation of the tree architecture that connects the RSs and their serving base station in the \emph{uplink} of the next generation wireless multi-hop systems. Unlike existing literature which mainly focused on performance analysis, we propose a distributed algorithm for studying the \emph{structure} and \emph{dynamics} of the network. We formulate a network formation game among the RSs whereby each RS aims to maximize a cross-layer utility function that takes into account the benefit from cooperative transmission, in terms of reduced bit error rate, and the costs in terms of the delay due to multi-hop transmission. For forming the tree structure, a distributed myopic algorithm is devised. Using the proposed algorithm, each RS can individually select the path that connects it to the BS through other RSs while optimizing its utility. We show the convergence of the algorithm into a Nash tree network, and we study how the RSs can adapt the network's topology to environmental changes such as mobility or the deployment of new mobile stations. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm presents significant gains in terms of average utility per mobile station which is at least 17.1% better relatively to the case with no RSs and reaches up to 40.3% improvement compared to a nearest neighbor algorithm (for a network with 10 RSs). The results also show that the average number of hops does not exceed 3 even for a network with up to 25 RSs.Comment: IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 59, no. 9, pp. 2528-2542, September 201