Recent Trends in Communication Networks

In recent years there has been many developments in communication technology. This has greatly enhanced the computing power of small handheld resource-constrained mobile devices. Different generations of communication technology have evolved. This had led to new research for communication of large volumes of data in different transmission media and the design of different communication protocols. Another direction of research concerns the secure and error-free communication between the sender and receiver despite the risk of the presence of an eavesdropper. For the communication requirement of a huge amount of multimedia streaming data, a lot of research has been carried out in the design of proper overlay networks. The book addresses new research techniques that have evolved to handle these challenges

Five Facets of 6G: Research Challenges and Opportunities

Whilst the fifth-generation (5G) systems are being rolled out across the globe, researchers have turned their attention to the exploration of radical next-generation solutions. At this early evolutionary stage we survey five main research facets of this field, namely {\em Facet~1: next-generation architectures, spectrum and services, Facet~2: next-generation networking, Facet~3: Internet of Things (IoT), Facet~4: wireless positioning and sensing, as well as Facet~5: applications of deep learning in 6G networks.} In this paper, we have provided a critical appraisal of the literature of promising techniques ranging from the associated architectures, networking, applications as well as designs. We have portrayed a plethora of heterogeneous architectures relying on cooperative hybrid networks supported by diverse access and transmission mechanisms. The vulnerabilities of these techniques are also addressed and carefully considered for highlighting the most of promising future research directions. Additionally, we have listed a rich suite of learning-driven optimization techniques. We conclude by observing the evolutionary paradigm-shift that has taken place from pure single-component bandwidth-efficiency, power-efficiency or delay-optimization towards multi-component designs, as exemplified by the twin-component ultra-reliable low-latency mode of the 5G system. We advocate a further evolutionary step towards multi-component Pareto optimization, which requires the exploration of the entire Pareto front of all optiomal solutions, where none of the components of the objective function may be improved without degrading at least one of the other components

Quantum Dash Multi-Wavelength Lasers for Next Generation High Capacity Multi-Gb/s Millimeter-Wave Radio-over-Fiber Wireless Communication Networks

The ever-increasing proliferation of mobile users and new technologies with different applications and features, and the demand for reliable high-speed high capacity, pervasive connectivity and low latency have initiated a roadmap for the next generation wireless networks, fifth generation (5G), which is set to revolutionize the existing wireless communications. 5G will use heterogeneous higher carrier frequencies from the plentifully available spectra in the higher microwave and millimeter-wave (MMW) bands, including licensed and unlicensed spectra, for achieving multi-Gb/s wireless connectivity and overcoming the existing wireless spectrum crunch in the sub-6 GHz bands, resulting from the tremendous growth of data-intensive technologies and applications. The use of MMW when complemented by multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) technology can significantly increase data capacity through spatial multiplexing, and improve coverage and system reliability through spatial diversity. However, high-frequency MMW signals are prone to extreme propagation path loss and are challenging to generate and process with conventional bandwidth-limiting electronics. In addition, the existing digitized fronthaul for centralized radio access network (C-RAN) architecture is considered inefficient for 5G and beyond. Thus, to fully exploit the promising MMW 5G new radio (NR) resource and to alleviate the electronics and fronthaul bottleneck, microwave photonics with analog radio-over-fiber (A-RoF) technology becomes instrumental for optically synthesizing and processing broadband RF MMW wireless signals over optical links. The generation and distribution of high-frequency MMW signals in the optical domain over A-RoF links facilitate the seamless integration of high-capacity, reliable and transparent optical networks with flexible, mobile and pervasive wireless networks, extending the reach and coverage of high-speed broadband MMW wireless communications. Consequently, this fiber-wireless integration not only overcomes the problem of high bandwidth requirements, transmission capacity and span limitation but also significantly reduces system complexity considering the deployment of ultra-dense small cells with large numbers of 5G remote radio units (RRUs) having massive MIMO antennas with beamforming capabilities connected to the baseband units (BBU) in a C-RAN environment through an optical fiber-based fronthaul network. Nevertheless, photonic generation of spectrally pure RF MMW signals either involves complex circuitry or suffers from frequency fluctuation and phase noise due to uncorrelated optical sources, which can degrade system performance. Thus simple highly integrated and cost-efficient low-noise optical sources are required for next-generation MMW RoF wireless transmission systems. More recently, well-designed quantum confined nanostructures such as semiconductor quantum dash/dot multi-wavelength lasers (QD-MWLs) have attracted more interest in the photonic generation of RF MMW signals due to their simple compact and integrated design with highly coherent and correlated optical signals having a very low phase and intensity noise attributed to the inherent properties of QD materials. The main theme of this thesis revolves around the experimental investigation of such nanostructures on the device and system level for applications in high-speed high-capacity broadband MMW RoF-based fronthaul and wireless access networks. Several photonic-aided high-capacity long-reach MMW RoF wireless transmission systems are proposed and experimentally demonstrated based on QD-MWLs with the remote distribution and photonic generation of broadband multi-Gb/s MMW wireless signals at 5G NR (FR2) in the K-band, Ka-band and V-band in simplex, full-duplex and MIMO configurations over 10 to 50 km optical fiber and subsequent wireless transmission and detection. The QD-MWLs-based photonic MMW RoF wireless transmission systems’ designs and experimental demonstrations could usher in a new era of ultra-high-speed broadband multi-Gb/s wireless communications at the MMW frequency bands for next-generation wireless networks. The QD-MWLs investigated in this thesis include a simple monolithically integrated and highly coherent low-noise single-section semiconductor InAs/InP QD buried heterostructure passively mode-locked (PML) laser-based optical coherent frequency comb (CFC) and a novel monolithic highly correlated low-noise semiconductor InAs/InP buried heterostructure common-cavity QD dual-wavelength distributed feedback laser (QD-DW-DFBL). The performance of each device is thoroughly characterized experimentally in terms of optical phase noise, relative intensity noise (RIN), timing jitter and RF phase noise exhibiting promising results. Based on these devices, different long-reach photonic MMW RoF wireless transmission systems, including simplex single-input-single-output (SISO) and multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) and bidirectional configurations, are proposed and experimentally demonstrated with real-time remote electrical RF synthesizer-free all-optical frequency up-conversion, wireless transmission and successful reception of wide-bandwidth multi-level quadrature amplitude modulated (M-QAM) RF MMW wireless signals having bit rates ranging from 4 Gb/s to 36 Gb/s over different hybrid fiber-wireless links comprising of standard single mode fiber (SSMF) and indoor wireless channel. The end-to-end links are thoroughly investigated in terms of error-vector-magnitude (EVM), bit-error-rat (BER), constellations and eye diagrams, realizing successful error-free transmission. Finally, novel high-capacity spectrally efficient MIMO and optical beamforming enabled photonic MMW RoF wireless transceivers design and methods based on QD-MWLs with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) and space division multiplexing (SDM) are proposed and discussed. A proof-of-concept implementation of the proposed photonic MMW RoF wireless transmission system is also simulated in a simple WDM-based configuration with bidirectional 4×4 MIMO MMW carrier streams

Modelling, Dimensioning and Optimization of 5G Communication Networks, Resources and Services

This reprint aims to collect state-of-the-art research contributions that address challenges in the emerging 5G networks design, dimensioning and optimization. Designing, dimensioning and optimization of communication networks resources and services have been an inseparable part of telecom network development. The latter must convey a large volume of traffic, providing service to traffic streams with highly differentiated requirements in terms of bit-rate and service time, required quality of service and quality of experience parameters. Such a communication infrastructure presents many important challenges, such as the study of necessary multi-layer cooperation, new protocols, performance evaluation of different network parts, low layer network design, network management and security issues, and new technologies in general, which will be discussed in this book

A Vision and Framework for the High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) Networks of the Future

A High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) is a network node that operates in the stratosphere at an of altitude around 20 km and is instrumental for providing communication services. Precipitated by technological innovations in the areas of autonomous avionics, array antennas, solar panel efficiency levels, and battery energy densities, and fueled by flourishing industry ecosystems, the HAPS has emerged as an indispensable component of next-generations of wireless networks. In this article, we provide a vision and framework for the HAPS networks of the future supported by a comprehensive and state-of-the-art literature review. We highlight the unrealized potential of HAPS systems and elaborate on their unique ability to serve metropolitan areas. The latest advancements and promising technologies in the HAPS energy and payload systems are discussed. The integration of the emerging Reconfigurable Smart Surface (RSS) technology in the communications payload of HAPS systems for providing a cost-effective deployment is proposed. A detailed overview of the radio resource management in HAPS systems is presented along with synergistic physical layer techniques, including Faster-Than-Nyquist (FTN) signaling. Numerous aspects of handoff management in HAPS systems are described. The notable contributions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in HAPS, including machine learning in the design, topology management, handoff, and resource allocation aspects are emphasized. The extensive overview of the literature we provide is crucial for substantiating our vision that depicts the expected deployment opportunities and challenges in the next 10 years (next-generation networks), as well as in the subsequent 10 years (next-next-generation networks).Comment: To appear in IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorial

Software Defined Applications in Cellular and Optical Networks

abstract: Small wireless cells have the potential to overcome bottlenecks in wireless access through the sharing of spectrum resources. A novel access backhaul network architecture based on a Smart Gateway (Sm-GW) between the small cell base stations, e.g., LTE eNBs, and the conventional backhaul gateways, e.g., LTE Servicing/Packet Gateways (S/P-GWs) has been introduced to address the bottleneck. The Sm-GW flexibly schedules uplink transmissions for the eNBs. Based on software defined networking (SDN) a management mechanism that allows multiple operator to flexibly inter-operate via multiple Sm-GWs with a multitude of small cells has been proposed. This dissertation also comprehensively survey the studies that examine the SDN paradigm in optical networks. Along with the PHY functional split improvements, the performance of Distributed Converged Cable Access Platform (DCCAP) in the cable architectures especially for the Remote-PHY and Remote-MACPHY nodes has been evaluated. In the PHY functional split, in addition to the re-use of infrastructure with a common FFT module for multiple technologies, a novel cross functional split interaction to cache the repetitive QAM symbols across time at the remote node to reduce the transmission rate requirement of the fronthaul link has been proposed.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Electrical Engineering 201