Interference mitigation techniques for optical attocell networks

The amount of wireless data traffic has been increasing exponentially. This results in the shortage of radio frequency (RF) spectrum. In order to alleviate the looming spectrum crisis, visible light communication (VLC) has emerged as a supplement to RF techniques. VLC uses light emitting diodes (LEDs) for transmission and employs photodiodes (PDs) for detection. With the advancement of the LED technology, LEDs can now fulfil two functions at the same time: illumination and high-speed wireless communication. In a typical indoor scenario, each single light fixture can act as an access point (AP), and multiple light fixtures in a room can form a cellular wireless network. We refer to this type of networks as ‘optical attocell network’. This thesis focuses on interference mitigation in optical attocell networks. Firstly, the downlink inter-cell interference (ICI) model in optical attocell networks is investigated. The conventional ray-tracing channel model for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path is studied. Although this model is accurate, it leads to time-consuming computer simulations. In order to reduce the computational complexity, a simplified channel model is proposed to accurately characterise NLOS ICI in optical attocell networks. Using the simplified model, the received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) distribution in optical attocell networks can be derived in closed-form. This signifies that no Monte Carlo simulation is required to evaluate the user performance in optical attocell networks. Then, with the knowledge of simplified channel model, interference mitigation techniques using angle diversity receivers (ADRs) are investigated in optical attocell networks. An ADR typically consists of multiple PDs with different orientations. By using proper signal combining schemes, ICI in optical attocell networks can be significantly mitigated. Also, a novel double-source cell configuration is proposed. This configuration can further mitigate ICI in optical attocell networks in conjunction with ADRs. Moreover, an analytical framework is proposed to evaluate the user performance in optical attocell networks with ADRs. Finally, optical space division multiple access (SDMA) using angle diversity transmitters is proposed and investigated in optical attocell networks. Optical SDMA can exploit the available bandwidth resource in spatial dimension and mitigate ICI in optical attocell networks. Compared with optical time division multiple access (TDMA), optical SDMA can significantly improve the throughput of optical attocell networks. This improvement scales with the number of LED elements on each angle diversity transmitter. In addition, the upper bound and the lower bound of optical SDMA performance are derived analytically. These bounds can precisely evaluate the performance of optical SDMA systems. Furthermore, optical SDMA is shown to be robust against user position errors, and this makes optical SDMA suitable for practical implementations

Analysis of the impact of misaligned wireless backhaul links on optical Attocell networks

Wireless solutions based on visible light communication (VLC) have been proposed for backhaul transmission in optical attocell networks. Perfect alignment of auxiliary transceivers is important for wireless backhaul links due to the requirement of direct line-of-sight (LOS) and the first-bounce specular reflection of mirror-aided non-LOS. However, the perfect alignment may not be guaranteed due to the limitation of the layout of BSs or installation mistakes. In this article, we investigate the impact of misalignment on the overall network performance. Two VLC backhaul link configurations have been considered and compared. Performance of using different frequency reuse schemes and channel allocation schemes are compared

Introduction to indoor networking concepts and challenges in LiFi

LiFi is networked, bidirectional wireless communication with light. It is used to connect fixed and mobile devices at very high data rates by harnessing the visible light and infrared spectrum. Combined, these spectral resources are 2600 times larger than the entire radio frequency (RF) spectrum. This paper provides the motivation behind why LiFi is a very timely technology, especially for 6th generation (6G) cellular communications. It discusses and reviews essential networking technologies, such as interference mitigation and hybrid LiFi/Wi-Fi networking topologies. We also consider the seamless integration of LiFi into existing wireless networks to form heterogeneous networks across the optical and RF domains and discuss implications and solutions in terms of load balancing. Finally, we provide the results of a real-world hybrid LiFi/Wi-Fi network deployment in a software defined networking testbed. In addition, results from a LiFi deployment in a school classroom are provided, which show that Wi-Fi network performance can be improved significantly by offloading traffic to the LiFi

Multi-Hop Wireless Optical Backhauling for LiFi Attocell Networks: Bandwidth Scheduling and Power Control

The backhaul of hundreds of light fidelity (LiFi) base stations (BSs) constitutes a major challenge. Indoor wireless optical backhauling is a novel approach whereby the interconnections between adjacent LiFi BSs are provided by way of directed line-of-sight (LOS) wireless infrared (IR) links. Building on the aforesaid approach, this paper presents the top-down design of a multi-hop wireless backhaul configuration for multi-tier optical attocell networks by proposing the novel idea of super cells. Such cells incorporate multiple clusters of attocells that are connected to the core network via a single gateway based on multi-hop decode-and-forward (DF) relaying. Consequently, new challenges arise for managing the bandwidth and power resources of the bottleneck backhaul. By putting forward user-based bandwidth scheduling (UBS) and cell-based bandwidth scheduling (CBS) policies, the system-level modeling and analysis of the end-to-end multi-user sum rate is elaborated. In addition, optimal bandwidth scheduling under both UBS and CBS policies are formulated as constrained convex optimization problems, which are solved by using the projected subgradient method. Furthermore, the transmission power of the backhaul system is opportunistically reduced by way of an innovative fixed power control (FPC) strategy. The notion of backhaul bottleneck occurrence (BBO) is introduced. An accurate approximate expression of the probability of BBO is derived, and then verified using Monte Carlo simulations. Several insights are provided into the offered gains of the proposed schemes through extensive computer simulations, by studying different aspects of the performance of super cells including the average sum rate, the BBO probability and the backhaul power efficiency (PE).Comment: 36 pages, 21 figures, 1 tabl

Lights and Shadows: A Comprehensive Survey on Cooperative and Precoding Schemes to Overcome LOS Blockage and Interference in Indoor VLC

Visible light communications (VLC) have received significant attention as a way of moving part of the saturated indoor wireless traffic to the wide and unregulated visible optical spectrum. Nowadays, VLC are considered as a suitable technology, for several applications such as high-rate data transmission, supporting internet of things communications or positioning. The signal processing originally derived from radio-frequency (RF) systems such as cooperative or precoding schemes can be applied to VLC. However, its implementation is not straightforward. Furthermore, unlike RF transmission, VLC present a predominant line-of-sight link, although a weak non-LoS component may appear due to the reflection of the light on walls, floor, ceiling and nearby objects. Blocking effects may compromise the performance of the aforementioned transmission schemes. There exist several surveys in the literature focused on VLC and its applications, but the management of the shadowing and interference in VLC requires a comprehensive study. To fill this gap, this work introduces the implementation of cooperative and precoding schemes to VLC, while remarking their benefits and drawbacks for overcoming the shadowing effects. After that, the combination of both cooperative and precoding schemes is analyzed as a way of providing resilient VLC networks. Finally, we propose several open issues that the cooperative and precoding schemes must face in order to provide satisfactory VLC performance in indoor scenarios.This work has been supported partially by Spanish National Project TERESA-ADA(TEC2017-90093-C3-2-R) (MINECO/AEI/FEDER, UE), the research project GEOVEOLUZ-CM-UC3Mfunded by the call “Programa de apoyo a la realización de proyectos interdisciplinares de I+D parajóvenes investigadores de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 2019-2020” under the frame ofthe Convenio Plurianual Comunidad de Madrid-Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and projectMadrid Flight on Chip (Innovation Cooperative Projects Comunidad of Madrid - HUBS 2018/MadridFlightOnChip). Additionally, it has been supported partially by the Juan de la CiervaIncorporación grant IJC2019-040317-I and Juan de la Cierva Formación grant (FJC2019-039541-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033)

Robust Cooperative Multicarrier Transmission Scheme for Optical Wireless Cellular Networks

Visible light communication (VLC) is a promising technology to achieve high data rates in heterogeneous scenarios. However, VLC strongly depends on the existence of a line-of-sight (LoS) link between transmitter and receiver to guarantee a good data rate performance, which is often a condition that is difficult to satisfy in practice. In this letter, a novel cooperative multicarrier transmission scheme is proposed, where neighboring attocells smartly cooperate to decrease the probability of blockage in the LoS link. This approach is compared to single-cell transmission schemes, obtaining notable gains in both received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio and cell data rate when blockage of the LoS link occurs toward the nearest base station.This work was supported in part by the Catalan Government under Grant 2014SGR1567 and in part by the Spanish Government under the National Project "ELISA" with ID TEC2014-59255-C3-3/1-R. The work of B. Genovés Guzmán was supported in part by the Spanish MECD FPU Fellowship Program