Framing Protocols on Upstream Channel in CATV Networks: Asymptotic Average Delay Analysis

This paper deals with bandwidth management of the upstream channel of a CATV network. The upstream channel bandwidth must be splitted between random access and reserved access. This splitting is obtained via a framing protocol. This framing may be «explicit» i.e. defined by special control signals or «implicit» i.e. defined by the reservation scheme. We describe in details four framing management schemes of the upstream channel. We then study these framing management schemes with simple analytical models.An asymptotic average access delay analysis (when the propagation is large) is provided. As a result of our models, we show that implicit framing outperforms explicit framing schemes

NB-IoT Uplink Synchronization by Change Point Detection of Phase Series in NTNs

Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) are widely recognized as a potential solution to achieve ubiquitous connections of Narrow Bandwidth Internet of Things (NB-IoT). In order to adopt NTNs in NB-IoT, one of the main challenges is the uplink synchronization of Narrowband Physical Random Access procedure which refers to the estimation of time of arrival (ToA) and carrier frequency offset (CFO). Due to the large propagation delay and Doppler shift in NTNs, traditional estimation methods for Terrestrial Networks (TNs) can not be applied in NTNs directly. In this context, we design a two stage ToA and CFO estimation scheme including coarse estimation and fine estimation based on abrupt change point detection (CPD) of phase series with machine learning. Our method achieves high estimation accuracy of ToA and CFO under the low signal-noise ratio (SNR) and large Doppler shift conditions and extends the estimation range without enhancing Random Access preambles

A multichannel random access protocol for multislot short messages with delay constraints

A multichannel random access protocol called FMCSA for multislot short messages is proposed in this paper to be used in access networks with large propagation delay. This protocol combines random access with the use of packet level forward error correction coding for new messages and scheduled retransmissions for partially received messages. Analytical and simulation results show that FMCSA can achieve a higher throughput and lower delay than slotted Aloha. When the system is operating at the low load region, the short messages can be delivered in their first attempts with very high probability. With the load increasing, more messages will be received partially in their first attempts and the scheduled retransmission scheme will guarantee the partially received messages to be recovered in their second attempts. Therefore the delay performance of FMCSA is much more robust to the load fluctuation than slot Aloha

Architectures and Key Technical Challenges for 5G Systems Incorporating Satellites

Satellite Communication systems are a promising solution to extend and complement terrestrial networks in unserved or under-served areas. This aspect is reflected by recent commercial and standardisation endeavours. In particular, 3GPP recently initiated a Study Item for New Radio-based, i.e., 5G, Non-Terrestrial Networks aimed at deploying satellite systems either as a stand-alone solution or as an integration to terrestrial networks in mobile broadband and machine-type communication scenarios. However, typical satellite channel impairments, as large path losses, delays, and Doppler shifts, pose severe challenges to the realisation of a satellite-based NR network. In this paper, based on the architecture options currently being discussed in the standardisation fora, we discuss and assess the impact of the satellite channel characteristics on the physical and Medium Access Control layers, both in terms of transmitted waveforms and procedures for enhanced Mobile BroadBand (eMBB) and NarrowBand-Internet of Things (NB-IoT) applications. The proposed analysis shows that the main technical challenges are related to the PHY/MAC procedures, in particular Random Access (RA), Timing Advance (TA), and Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) and, depending on the considered service and architecture, different solutions are proposed.Comment: Submitted to Transactions on Vehicular Technologies, April 201

Analytical Bit Error Rate Performance of DS-CDMA Ad Hoc Networks using Large Area Synchronous Spreading Sequences

The performance of large area synchronous (LAS) direct sequence code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) assisted ad hoc networks is investigated in the context of a single-hop infinite mesh of rectilinearly located ad hoc nodes. It is shown that LAS DS-CDMA exhibits a significantly better performance than the family of traditional spreading sequences used in a quasisynchronous DS-CDMA scenario having a low number of resolvable multipath components and a sufficiently high number of RAKE receiver branches. The benefits of LAS codes in ad hoc networks are multifold: (i) Their performance is noise-limited, rather than interference-limited, provided that the multipath and multi-user interference arrives within their interference free window. (ii) Under the same conditions LAS codes are robust against the ‘near–far’ effects imposed by ad hoc networks operating without base-station-aided power control, without accurate synchronisation and without implementationally complex interference cancellers

Relieving the Wireless Infrastructure: When Opportunistic Networks Meet Guaranteed Delays

Major wireless operators are nowadays facing network capacity issues in striving to meet the growing demands of mobile users. At the same time, 3G-enabled devices increasingly benefit from ad hoc radio connectivity (e.g., Wi-Fi). In this context of hybrid connectivity, we propose Push-and-track, a content dissemination framework that harnesses ad hoc communication opportunities to minimize the load on the wireless infrastructure while guaranteeing tight delivery delays. It achieves this through a control loop that collects user-sent acknowledgements to determine if new copies need to be reinjected into the network through the 3G interface. Push-and-Track includes multiple strategies to determine how many copies of the content should be injected, when, and to whom. The short delay-tolerance of common content, such as news or road traffic updates, make them suitable for such a system. Based on a realistic large-scale vehicular dataset from the city of Bologna composed of more than 10,000 vehicles, we demonstrate that Push-and-Track consistently meets its delivery objectives while reducing the use of the 3G network by over 90%.Comment: Accepted at IEEE WoWMoM 2011 conferenc