Modeling and design for future wireless cellular networks: coverage, rate, and security

Accompanied by the wide penetration of smartphones and other personal mobile devices in recent years, the foremost demand for cellular communications has been transformed from offering subscribers a way to communicate through low data rate voice call connections initially, into providing connectivity with good coverage, high data rate, as well as strong security for sensitive data transmission. To satisfy the demands for improved coverage and data rate, the cellular network is undergoing a significant transition from conventional macrocell-only deployment to heterogeneous network (HetNet), in which a multitude of radio access technologies can be co-deployed intelligently and flexibly. However, the small cells newly introduced in HetNet, such as picocells and femtocells, have complicated the network topology and the interference environment, thus presenting new challenges in network modeling and design. In recent studies, performance analyses were carried out accurately and tractably with the help of Poisson point process (PPP)-based base station (BS) model. This PPP-based model is extended in this work with the impact of directional antennas taken into account. The significance of this extension is emphasized by the wide usage of directional antennas in sectorized macrocell cells. Moreover, studies showed that little coverage improvement can be achieved if small cells are randomly deployed in a uniform-distributed way. This fact inspires us to explore the effect of the non-uniform BS deployment. We propose a non-uniform femtocell deployment scheme, in which femtocell BSs are not utilized if they are located close to any macrocell BSs. Based upon our analytical framework, this scheme can provide remarkable improvements on both coverage and data rate, thus stressing the importance of selectively deploying femtocell BSs by considering their relative locations with macrocell BSs. To alleviate the severe interference problem, the uplink attenuation technique is frequently employed in femtocell receivers to reduce the impact of interference from unattached terminals such that femtocell communication can take place. In order to analyze and optimize the femtocell system performance with this technique, we propose an analytical framework and demonstrate the performance tradeoff resulted from higher and lower uplink attenuation levels. Furthermore, we provide two improved uplink attenuation algorithms, which adaptively adjust to the information of the scheduled traffic, data rate requirement, and interference condition. Apart from the cellular coverage and data rate, communication security has been an important issue to be addressed due to the increasing demand for transmitting private and sensitive information over wireless networks. In the last part of the thesis, physical layer security, as a new way to improve wireless secrecy, is studied for cellular networks. By highlighting the unique cellular features offered by the carrier-operated high-speed backhaul, we investigate the probabilistic characterization of the secrecy rate, and identify the performance impacts of cell association and location information exchange between BSs. These results provide necessary network design guidelines for selecting the appropriate cell association method and information exchange range

Efficient resource allocation for 5G hybrid wireless networks

This thesis explores three directions of energy-efficiency(EE) and spectral efficiency(SE) under 5G wireless networks. Firstly, we study the optimization of power control for the small (two-user) interference channel in which the terminals are time-switched between the signal-processing and energy-harvesting phases. Both energy harvesting and signal-processing processes are during the downlink. The objective is to maximize the sum-rate, subject to the minimum data and harvested energy constraints at the receivers, assuming a fixed time-switching coefficient. The key contribution is using a geometric approach that analyzes the feasible region governed by the constraints, which gives rise to the optimal power control solution. Another topic focuses on the performance analysis of two user association schemes for wireless power transfer (WPT) in heterogeneous networks (HetNets) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, downlink for the WPT in the first phase and uplink for wireless information transfer (WIT) in the second phase. The two user association schemes considered in the analysis are the Downlink received signal power (DRSP) based approach for maximizing the harvested energy; and the uplink received signal power (URSP) based approach for minimizing the uplink path loss. In the downlink, we adopt a low-complexity approach for massive MIMO power transfer to recharge users. Then we derive the average uplink achievable rate with the harvested energy. The last topic analyses a large-scale mmWave ad hoc network in the randomly located eavesdroppers area, where eavesdroppers can still intercept the confidential messages, since they may reside in the signal beam. This chapter explores the potential of physical layer security in mmWave ad hoc networks. Specifically, we characterize the impact of mmWave channel characteristics, random blockages, and antenna gains on the secrecy performance. For the special case of the uniform linear array (ULA), a tractable approach is proposed to evaluate the average achievable secrecy rate

A Survey of Physical Layer Security Techniques for 5G Wireless Networks and Challenges Ahead

Physical layer security which safeguards data confidentiality based on the information-theoretic approaches has received significant research interest recently. The key idea behind physical layer security is to utilize the intrinsic randomness of the transmission channel to guarantee the security in physical layer. The evolution towards 5G wireless communications poses new challenges for physical layer security research. This paper provides a latest survey of the physical layer security research on various promising 5G technologies, including physical layer security coding, massive multiple-input multiple-output, millimeter wave communications, heterogeneous networks, non-orthogonal multiple access, full duplex technology, etc. Technical challenges which remain unresolved at the time of writing are summarized and the future trends of physical layer security in 5G and beyond are discussed.Comment: To appear in IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communication

Secure Communications in Millimeter Wave Ad Hoc Networks

Wireless networks with directional antennas, like millimeter wave (mmWave) networks, have enhanced security. For a large-scale mmWave ad hoc network in which eavesdroppers are randomly located, however, eavesdroppers can still intercept the confidential messages, since they may reside in the signal beam. This paper explores the potential of physical layer security in mmWave ad hoc networks. Specifically, we characterize the impact of mmWave channel characteristics, random blockages, and antenna gains on the secrecy performance. For the special case of uniform linear array (ULA), a tractable approach is proposed to evaluate the average achievable secrecy rate. We also characterize the impact of artificial noise in such networks. Our results reveal that in the low transmit powerregime, the use of low mmWave frequency achieves better secrecy performance, and when increasing transmit power, a transition from low mmWave frequency to high mmWave frequency is demanded for obtaining a higher secrecy rate. More antennas at the transmitting nodes are needed to decrease the antenna gain obtained by the eavesdroppers when using ULA. Eavesdroppers can intercept more information by using a wide beam pattern. Furthermore, the use of artificial noise may be ineffective for enhancing the secrecy rate.Comment: Accepted by IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communication

Secure Communications in Millimeter Wave Ad Hoc Networks

Wireless networks with directional antennas, like millimeter wave (mmWave) networks, have enhanced security. For a large-scale mmWave ad hoc network in which eavesdroppers are randomly located, however, eavesdroppers can still intercept the confidential messages, since they may reside in the signal beam. This paper explores the potential of physical layer security in mmWave ad hoc networks. Specifically, we characterize the impact of mmWave channel characteristics, random blockages, and antenna gains on the secrecy performance. For the special case of uniform linear array (ULA), a tractable approach is proposed to evaluate the average achievable secrecy rate. We also characterize the impact of artificial noise in such networks. Our results reveal that in the low transmit power regime, the use of low mmWave frequency achieves better secrecy performance, and when increasing transmit power, a transition from low mmWave frequency to high mmWave frequency is demanded for obtaining a higher secrecy rate. More antennas at the transmitting nodes are needed to decrease the antenna gain obtained by the eavesdroppers when using ULA. Eavesdroppers can intercept more information by using a wide beam pattern. Furthermore, the use of artificial noise may be ineffective forenhancing the secrecy rate

Fast converging robust beamforming for downlink massive MIMO systems in heterogenous networks

Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is an emerging technology, which is an enabler for future broadband wireless networks that support high speed connection of densely populated areas. Application of massive MIMO at the macrocell base stations in heterogeneous networks (HetNets) offers an increase in throughput without increasing the bandwidth, but with reduced power consumption. This research investigated the optimisation problem of signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) balancing for macrocell users in a typical HetNet scenario with massive MIMO at the base station. The aim was to present an efficient beamforming solution that would enhance inter-tier interference mitigation in heterogeneous networks. The system model considered the case of perfect channel state information (CSI) acquisition at the transmitter, as well as the case of imperfect CSI at the transmitter. A fast converging beamforming solution, which is applicable to both channel models, is presented. The proposed beamforming solution method applies the matrix stuffing technique and the alternative direction method of multipliers, in a two-stage fashion, to give a modestly accurate and efficient solution. In the first stage, the original optimisation problem is transformed into standard second-order conic program (SOCP) form using the Smith form reformulation and applying the matrix stuffing technique for fast transformation. The second stage uses the alternative direction method of multipliers to solve the SOCP-based optimisation problem. Simulations to evaluate the SINR performance of the proposed solution method were carried out with supporting software-based simulations using relevant MATLAB toolboxes. The simulation results of a typical single cell in a HetNet show that the proposed solution gives performance with modest accuracy, while converging in an efficient manner, compared to optimal solutions achieved by state-of-the-art modelling languages and interior-point solvers. This is particularly for cases when the number of antennas at the base station increases to large values, for both models of perfect CSI and imperfect CSI. This makes the solution method attractive for practical implementation in heterogeneous networks with large scale antenna arrays at the macrocell base station.Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2018.Electrical, Electronic and Computer EngineeringMEngUnrestricte

D11.2 Consolidated results on the performance limits of wireless communications

Deliverable D11.2 del projecte europeu NEWCOM#The report presents the Intermediate Results of N# JRAs on Performance Limits of Wireless Communications and highlights the fundamental issues that have been investigated by the WP1.1. The report illustrates the Joint Research Activities (JRAs) already identified during the first year of the project which are currently ongoing. For each activity there is a description, an illustration of the adherence and relevance with the identified fundamental open issues, a short presentation of the preliminary results, and a roadmap for the joint research work in the next year. Appendices for each JRA give technical details on the scientific activity in each JRA.Peer ReviewedPreprin

Performance Evaluation of Ultra-Dense Networks with Applications in Internet-of-Things

The new wireless era in the next decade and beyond would be very different from our experience nowadays. The fast pace of introducing new technologies, services, and applications requires the researchers and practitioners in the field be ready by making paradigm shifts. The stringent requirements on 5G networks, in terms of throughput, latency, and connectivity, challenge traditional incremental improvement in the network performance. This urges the development of unconventional solutions such as network densification, massive multiple-input multiple-output (massive MIMO), cloud-based radio access network (C-RAN), millimeter Waves (mmWaves), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), full-duplex communication, wireless network virtualization, and proactive content-caching to name a few. Ultra-Dense Network (UDN) is one of the preeminent technologies in the racetrack towards fulfilling the requirements of next generation mobile networks. Dense networks are featured by the deployment of abundant of small cells in hotspots where immense traffic is generated. In this context, the density of small cells surpasses the active users’ density providing a new wireless environment that has never been experienced in mobile communication networks. The high density of small cells brings the serving cells much closer to the end users providing a two-fold gain where better link quality is achieved and more spatial reuse is accomplished. In this thesis, we identified the distinguishing features of dense networks which include: close proximity of many cells to a given user, potential inactivity of most base stations (BSs) due to lack of users, drastic inter-cell interference in hot-spots, capacity limitation by virtue of the backhaul bottleneck, and fundamentally different propagation environments. With these features in mind, we recognized several problems associated with the performance evaluation of UDN which require a treatment different from traditional cellular networks. Using rigorous advanced mathematical techniques along with extensive Monte Carlo simulations, we modelled and analytically studied the problems in question. Consequently, we developed several mathematical frameworks providing closed-form and easy-computable mathematical instruments which network designers and operators can use to tune the networks in order to achieve the optimal performance. Moreover, the investigations performed in this thesis furnish a solid ground for addressing more problems to better understand and exploit the UDN technology for higher performance grades. In Chapter 3, we propose the multiple association in dense network environment where the BSs are equipped with idle mode capabilities. This provides the user with a “data-shower,” where the user’s traffic is split into multiple paths, which helps overcoming the capacity limitations imposed by the backhaul links. We evaluate the performance of the proposed association scheme considering general fading channel distributions. To this end, we develop a tractable framework for the computation of the average downlink rate. In Chapter 4, we study the downlink performance of UDNs considering Stretched Exponential Path-Loss (SEPL) to capture the short distances of the communication links. Considering the idle mode probability of small cells, we draw conclusions which better reflect the performance of network densification considering SEPL model. Our findings reveal that the idle mode capabilities of the BSs provide a very useful interference mitigation technique. Another interesting insight is that the system interference in idle mode capable UDNs is upper-bounded by the interference generated from the active BSs, and in turn, this is upper-bounded by the number of active users where more active users is translated to more interference in the system. This means that the interference becomes independent of the density of the small cells as this density increases. In Chapter 5, we provide the derivation of the average secrecy rate in UDNs considering their distinct traits, namely, idle mode BSs and LOS transmission. To this end, we exploit the standard moment generating function (MGF)-based approach to derive relatively simple and easily computable expressions for the average secrecy rate considering the idle mode probability and Rician fading channel. The result of this investigation avoids the system level simulations where the performance evaluation complexity can be greatly reduced with the aid of the derived analytical expressions. In Chapter 6, we model the uplink coverage of mMTC deployment scenario considering a UDN environment. The presented analysis reveals the significant and unexpected impact of the high density of small cells in UDNs on the maximum transmit power of the MTC nodes. This finding relaxes the requirements on the maximum transmit power which in turn allows for less complexity, brings more cost savings, and yields much longer battery life. This investigation provides accurate, simple, and insightful expressions which shows the impact of every single system parameter on the network performance allowing for guided tunability of the network. Moreover, the results signify the asymptotic limits of the impact of all system parameters on the network performance. This allows for the efficient operation of the network by designing the system parameters which maximizes the network performance. In Chapter 7, we address the impact of the coexistence of MTC and HTC communications on the network performance in UDNs. In this investigation, we study the downlink network performance in terms of the coverage probability and the cell load where we propose two association schemes for the MTC devices, namely, Connect-to-Closest (C2C) and Connect-to-Active (C2A). The network performance is then analyzed and compared in both association schemes. In Chapter 8, we model the uplink coverage of HTC users and MTC devices paired together in NOMA-based radio access. Closed-form and easy-computable analytical results are derived for the considered performance metrics, namely the uplink coverage and the uplink network throughput. The analytical results, which are validated by extensive Monte Carlo simulations, reveal that increasing the density of small cells and the available bandwidth significantly improves the network performance. On the other side, the power control parameters has to be tuned carefully to approach the optimal performance of both the uplink coverage and the uplink network throughput