Cellular and Wi-Fi technologies evolution: from complementarity to competition

This PhD thesis has the characteristic to span over a long time because while working on it, I was working as a research engineer at CTTC with highly demanding development duties. This has delayed the deposit more than I would have liked. On the other hand, this has given me the privilege of witnessing and studying how wireless technologies have been evolving over a decade from 4G to 5G and beyond. When I started my PhD thesis, IEEE and 3GPP were defining the two main wireless technologies at the time, Wi-Fi and LTE, for covering two substantially complementary market targets. Wi-Fi was designed to operate mostly indoor, in unlicensed spectrum, and was aimed to be a simple and cheap technology. Its primary technology for coexistence was based on the assumption that the spectrum on which it was operating was for free, and so it was designed with interference avoidance through the famous CSMA/CA protocol. On the other hand, 3GPP was designing technologies for licensed spectrum, a costly kind of spectrum. As a result, LTE was designed to take the best advantage of it while providing the best QoE in mainly outdoor scenarios. The PhD thesis starts in this context and evolves with these two technologies. In the first chapters, the thesis studies radio resource management solutions for standalone operation of Wi-Fi in unlicensed and LTE in licensed spectrum. We anticipated the now fundamental machine learning trend by working on machine learning-based radio resource management solutions to improve LTE and Wi-Fi operation in their respective spectrum. We pay particular attention to small cell deployments aimed at improving the spectrum efficiency in licensed spectrum, reproducing small range scenarios typical of Wi-Fi settings. IEEE and 3GPP followed evolving the technologies over the years: Wi-Fi has grown into a much more complex and sophisticated technology, incorporating the key features of cellular technologies, like HARQ, OFDMA, MU-MIMO, MAC scheduling and spatial reuse. On the other hand, since Release 13, cellular networks have also been designed for unlicensed spectrum. As a result, the two last chapters of this thesis focus on coexistence scenarios, in which LTE needs to be designed to coexist with Wi-Fi fairly, and NR, the radio access for 5G, with Wi-Fi in 5 GHz and WiGig in 60 GHz. Unlike LTE, which was adapted to operate in unlicensed spectrum, NR-U is natively designed with this feature, including its capability to operate in unlicensed in a complete standalone fashion, a fundamental new milestone for cellular. In this context, our focus of analysis changes. We consider that these two technological families are no longer targeting complementarity but are now competing, and we claim that this will be the trend for the years to come. To enable the research in these multi-RAT scenarios, another fundamental result of this PhD thesis, besides the scientific contributions, is the release of high fidelity models for LTE and NR and their coexistence with Wi-Fi and WiGig to the ns-3 open-source community. ns-3 is a popular open-source network simulator, with the characteristic to be multi-RAT and so naturally allows the evaluation of coexistence scenarios between different technologies. These models, for which I led the development, are by academic citations, the most used open-source simulation models for LTE and NR and havereceived fundings from industry (Ubiquisys, WFA, SpiderCloud, Interdigital, Facebook) and federal agencies (NIST, LLNL) over the years.Aquesta tesi doctoral té la característica d’allargar-se durant un llarg període de temps ja que mentre treballava en ella, treballava com a enginyera investigadora a CTTC amb tasques de desenvolupament molt exigents. Això ha endarrerit el dipositar-la més del que m’hagués agradat. D’altra banda, això m’ha donat el privilegi de ser testimoni i estudiar com han evolucionat les tecnologies sense fils durant més d’una dècada des del 4G fins al 5G i més enllà. Quan vaig començar la tesi doctoral, IEEE i 3GPP estaven definint les dues tecnologies sense fils principals en aquell moment, Wi-Fi i LTE, que cobreixen dos objectius de mercat substancialment complementaris. Wi-Fi va ser dissenyat per funcionar principalment en interiors, en espectre sense llicència, i pretenia ser una tecnologia senzilla i barata. La seva tecnologia primària per a la convivència es basava en el supòsit que l’espectre en el que estava operant era de franc, i, per tant, es va dissenyar simplement evitant interferències a través del famós protocol CSMA/CA. D’altra banda, 3GPP estava dissenyant tecnologies per a espectres amb llicència, un tipus d’espectre costós. Com a resultat, LTE està dissenyat per treure’n el màxim profit alhora que proporciona el millor QoE en escenaris principalment a l’aire lliure. La tesi doctoral comença amb aquest context i evoluciona amb aquestes dues tecnologies. En els primers capítols, estudiem solucions de gestió de recursos de radio per a operacions en espectre de Wi-Fi sense llicència i LTE amb llicència. Hem anticipat l’actual tendència fonamental d’aprenentatge automàtic treballant solucions de gestió de recursos de radio basades en l’aprenentatge automàtic per millorar l’LTE i Wi-Fi en el seu espectre respectiu. Prestem especial atenció als desplegaments de cèl·lules petites destinades a millorar la eficiència d’espectre llicenciat, reproduint escenaris de petit abast típics de la configuració Wi-Fi. IEEE i 3GPP van seguir evolucionant les tecnologies al llarg dels anys: El Wi-Fi s’ha convertit en una tecnologia molt més complexa i sofisticada, incorporant les característiques clau de les tecnologies cel·lulars, com ara HARQ i la reutilització espacial. D’altra banda, des de la versió 13, també s’han dissenyat xarxes cel·lulars per a espectre sense llicència. Com a resultat, els dos darrers capítols d’aquesta tesi es centren en aquests escenaris de convivència, on s’ha de dissenyar LTE per conviure amb la Wi-Fi de manera justa, i NR, l’accés a la radio per a 5G amb Wi-Fi a 5 GHz i WiGig a 60 GHz. A diferència de LTE, que es va adaptar per funcionar en espectre sense llicència, NR-U està dissenyat de forma nativa amb aquesta característica, inclosa la seva capacitat per operar sense llicència de forma autònoma completa, una nova fita fonamental per al mòbil. En aquest context, el nostre focus d’anàlisi canvia. Considerem que aquestes dues famílies de tecnologia ja no estan orientades cap a la complementarietat, sinó que ara competeixen, i afirmem que aquesta serà el tendència per als propers anys. Per permetre la investigació en aquests escenaris multi-RAT, un altre resultat fonamental d’aquesta tesi doctoral, a més de les aportacions científiques, és l’alliberament de models d’alta fidelitat per a LTE i NR i la seva coexistència amb Wi-Fi a la comunitat de codi obert ns-3. ns-3 és un popular simulador de xarxa de codi obert, amb la característica de ser multi-RAT i, per tant, permet l’avaluació de manera natural d’escenaris de convivència entre diferents tecnologies. Aquests models, pels quals he liderat el desenvolupament, són per cites acadèmiques, els models de simulació de codi obert més utilitzats per a LTE i NR i que han rebut finançament de la indústria (Ubiquisys, WFA, SpiderCloud, Interdigital, Facebook) i agències federals (NIST, LLNL) al llarg dels anys.Esta tesis doctoral tiene la característica de extenderse durante mucho tiempo porque mientras trabajaba en ella, trabajaba como ingeniera de investigación en CTTC con tareas de desarrollo muy exigentes. Esto ha retrasado el depósito más de lo que me hubiera gustado. Por otro lado, gracias a ello, he tenido el privilegio de presenciar y estudiar como las tecnologías inalámbricas han evolucionado durante una década, de 4G a 5G y más allá. Cuando comencé mi tesis doctoral, IEEE y 3GPP estaban definiendo las dos principales tecnologías inalámbricas en ese momento, Wi-Fi y LTE, cumpliendo dos objetivos de mercado sustancialmente complementarios. Wi-Fi fue diseñado para funcionar principalmente en interiores, en un espectro sin licencia, y estaba destinado a ser una tecnología simple y barata. Su tecnología primaria para la convivencia se basaba en el supuesto en que el espectro en el que estaba operando era gratis, y así fue diseñado simplemente evitando interferencias a través del famoso protocolo CSMA/CA. Por otro lado, 3GPP estaba diseñando tecnologías para espectro con licencia, un tipo de espectro costoso. Como resultado, LTE está diseñado para aprovechar el espectro al máximo proporcionando al mismo tiempo el mejor QoE en escenarios principalmente al aire libre. La tesis doctoral parte de este contexto y evoluciona con estas dos tecnologías. En los primeros capítulos, estudiamos las soluciones de gestión de recursos de radio para operación en espectro Wi-Fi sin licencia y LTE con licencia. Anticipamos la tendencia ahora fundamental de aprendizaje automático trabajando en soluciones de gestión de recursos de radio para mejorar LTE y funcionamiento deWi-Fi en su respectivo espectro. Prestamos especial atención a las implementaciones de células pequeñas destinadas a mejorar la eficiencia de espectro licenciado, reproduciendo los típicos escenarios de rango pequeño de la configuración Wi-Fi. IEEE y 3GPP siguieron evolucionando las tecnologías a lo largo de los años: Wi-Fi se ha convertido en una tecnología mucho más compleja y sofisticada, incorporando las características clave de las tecnologías celulares, como HARQ, OFDMA, MU-MIMO, MAC scheduling y la reutilización espacial. Por otro lado, desde la Release 13, también se han diseñado redes celulares para espectro sin licencia. Como resultado, los dos últimos capítulos de esta tesis se centran en estos escenarios de convivencia, donde LTE debe diseñarse para coexistir con Wi-Fi de manera justa, y NR, el acceso por radio para 5G con Wi-Fi en 5 GHz y WiGig en 60 GHz. A diferencia de LTE, que se adaptó para operar en espectro sin licencia, NR-U está diseñado de forma nativa con esta función, incluyendo su capacidad para operar sin licencia de forma completamente independiente, un nuevo hito fundamental para los celulares. En este contexto, cambia nuestro enfoque de análisis. Consideramos que estas dos familias tecnológicas ya no tienen como objetivo la complementariedad, sino que ahora están compitiendo, y afirmamos que esta será la tendencia para los próximos años. Para permitir la investigación en estos escenarios de múltiples RAT, otro resultado fundamental de esta tesis doctoral, además de los aportes científicos, es el lanzamiento de modelos de alta fidelidad para LTE y NR y su coexistencia con Wi-Fi y WiGig a la comunidad de código abierto de ns-3. ns-3 es un simulador popular de red de código abierto, con la característica de ser multi-RAT y así, naturalmente, permite la evaluación de escenarios de convivencia entre diferentes tecnologías. Estos modelos, para los cuales lideré el desarrollo, son por citas académicas, los modelos de simulación de código abierto más utilizados para LTE y NR y han recibido fondos de la industria (Ubiquisys, WFA, SpiderCloud, Interdigital, Facebook) y agencias federales (NIST, LLNL) a lo largo de los años.Postprint (published version

Contributions to Improve Cognitive Strategies with Respect to Wireless Coexistence

Cognitive radio (CR) can identify temporarily available opportunities in a shared radio environment to improve spectral efficiency and coexistence behavior of radio systems. It operates as a secondary user (SU) and accommodates itself in detected opportunities with an intention to avoid harmful collisions with coexisting primary user (PU) systems. Such opportunistic operation of a CR system requires efficient situational awareness and reliable decision making for radio resource allocation. Situational awareness includes sensing the environment followed by a hypothesis testing for detection of available opportunities in the coexisting environment. This process is often known as spectral hole detection. Situational knowledge can be further enriched by forecasting the primary activities in the radio environment using predictive modeling based approaches. Improved knowledge about the coexisting environment essentially means better decision making for secondary resource allocation. This dissertation identifies limitations of existing predictive modeling and spectral hole detection based resource allocation strategies and suggest improvements. Firstly, accurate and efficient estimation of statistical parameters of the radio environment is identified as a fundamental challenge to realize predictive modeling based cognitive approaches. Lots of useful training data which are essential to learn the system parameters are not available either because of environmental effects such as noise, interference and fading or because of limited system resources particularly sensor bandwidth. While handling environmental effects to improve signal reception in radio systems has already gained much attention, this dissertation addresses the problem of data losses caused by limited sensor bandwidth as it is totally ignored so far and presents bandwidth independent parameter estimation methods. Where, bandwidth independent means achieving the same level of estimation accuracy for any sensor bandwidth. Secondly, this dissertation argues that the existing hole detection strategies are dumb because they provide very little information about the coexisting environment. Decision making for resource allocation based on this dumb hole detection approach cannot optimally exploit the opportunities available in the coexisting environment. As a solution, an intelligent hole detection scheme is proposed which suggests classifying the primary systems and using the documented knowledge of identified radio technologies to fully understand their coexistence behavior. Finally, this dissertation presents a neuro-fuzzy signal classifier (NFSC) that uses bandwidth, operating frequency, pulse shape, hopping behavior and time behavior of signals as distinct features in order to xii identify the PU signals in coexisting environments. This classifier provides the foundation for bandwidth independent parameter estimation and intelligent hole detection. MATLAB/Simulink based simulations are used to support the arguments throughout in this dissertation. A proof-of-concept demonstrator using microcontroller and hardware defined radio (HDR) based transceiver is also presented at the end.</p

Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks

Being infrastructure-less and without central administration control, wireless ad-hoc networking is playing a more and more important role in extending the coverage of traditional wireless infrastructure (cellular networks, wireless LAN, etc). This book includes state-of-the-art techniques and solutions for wireless ad-hoc networks. It focuses on the following topics in ad-hoc networks: quality-of-service and video communication, routing protocol and cross-layer design. A few interesting problems about security and delay-tolerant networks are also discussed. This book is targeted to provide network engineers and researchers with design guidelines for large scale wireless ad hoc networks

Cognitive Radio Systems

Cognitive radio is a hot research area for future wireless communications in the recent years. In order to increase the spectrum utilization, cognitive radio makes it possible for unlicensed users to access the spectrum unoccupied by licensed users. Cognitive radio let the equipments more intelligent to communicate with each other in a spectrum-aware manner and provide a new approach for the co-existence of multiple wireless systems. The goal of this book is to provide highlights of the current research topics in the field of cognitive radio systems. The book consists of 17 chapters, addressing various problems in cognitive radio systems

Design and optimization of QoS-based medium access control protocols for next-generation wireless LANs

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.In recent years, there have been tremendous advances in wireless & mobile communications, including wireless radio techniques, networking protocols, and mobile devices. It is expected that different broadband wireless access technologies, e.g., WiFi (IEEE 802.11) and WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) will coexist in the future. In the meantime, multimedia applications have experienced an explosive growth with increasing user demands. Nowadays, people expect to receive high-speed video, audio, voice and web services even when being mobile. The key question that needs to be answered, then, is how do we ensure that users always have the "best" network performance with the "lowest" costs in such complicated situations? The latest IEEE 802.11n standards attains rates of more than 100 Mbps by introducing innovative enhancements at the PHY and MAC layer, e.g. MIMO and Frame Aggregation, respectively. However, in this thesis we demonstrate that frame aggregation's performance adheres due to the EDCA scheduler's priority mechanism and consequently resulting in the network's poor overall performance. Short waiting times for high priority flows into the aggregation queue resolves to poor channel utilization. A Delayed Channel Access algorithm was designed to intentionally postpone the channel access procedure so that the number of packets in a formed frame can be increased and so will the network's overall performance. However, in some cases, the DCA algorithm has a negative impact on the applications that utilize the TCP protocol, especially the when small TCP window sizes are engaged. So, the TCP process starts to refrain from sending data due to delayed acknowledgements and the overall throughput drops. In this thesis, we address the above issues by firstly demonstrating the potential performance benefits of frame aggregation over the next generation wireless networks. The efficiency and behaviour of frame aggregation within a single queue, are mathematically analysed with the aid of a M=G[a;b]=1=K model. Results show that a trade-off choice has to be taken into account over minimizing the waiting time or maximizing utilization. We also point out that there isn't an optimum batch collection rule which can be assumed as generally valid but individual cases have to be considered separately. Secondly, we demonstrate through extensive simulations that by introducing a method, the DCA algorithm, which dynamically determines and adapts batch collections based upon the traffic's characteristics, QoS requirements and server's maximum capacity, also improves e ciency. Thirdly, it is important to understand the behaviour of the TCP ows over the WLAN and the influence that DCA has over the degrading performance of the TCP protocol. We investigate the cause of the problem and provide the foundations of designing and implementing possible solutions. Fourthly, we introduce two innovative proposals, one amendment and one extension to the original DCA algorithm, called Adaptive DCA and Selective DCA, respectively. Both solutions have been implemented in OPNET and extensive simulation runs over a wide set of scenarios show their effectiveness over the network's overall performance, each in its own way.This study was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

Distributed algorithms for optimized resource management of LTE in unlicensed spectrum and UAV-enabled wireless networks

Next-generation wireless cellular networks are morphing into a massive Internet of Things (IoT) environment that integrates a heterogeneous mix of wireless-enabled devices such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and connected vehicles. This unprecedented transformation will not only drive an exponential growth in wireless traffic, but it will also lead to the emergence of new wireless service applications that substantially differ from conventional multimedia services. To realize the fifth generation (5G) mobile networks vision, a new wireless radio technology paradigm shift is required in order to meet the quality of service requirements of these new emerging use cases. In this respect, one of the major components of 5G is self-organized networks. In essence, future cellular networks will have to rely on an autonomous and self-organized behavior in order to manage the large scale of wireless-enabled devices. Such an autonomous capability can be realized by integrating fundamental notions of artificial intelligence (AI) across various network devices. In this regard, the main objective of this thesis is to propose novel self-organizing and AI-inspired algorithms for optimizing the available radio resources in next-generation wireless cellular networks. First, heterogeneous networks that encompass licensed and unlicensed spectrum are studied. In this context, a deep reinforcement learning (RL) framework based on long short-term memory cells is introduced. The proposed scheme aims at proactively allocating the licensed assisted access LTE (LTE-LAA) radio resources over the unlicensed spectrum while ensuring an efficient coexistence with WiFi. The proposed deep learning algorithm is shown to reach a mixed-strategy Nash equilibrium, when it converges. Simulation results using real data traces show that the proposed scheme can yield up to 28% and 11% gains over a conventional reactive approach and a proportional fair coexistence mechanism, respectively. In terms of priority fairness, results show that an efficient utilization of the unlicensed spectrum is guaranteed when both technologies, LTE-LAA and WiFi, are given equal weighted priorities for transmission on the unlicensed spectrum. Furthermore, an optimization formulation for LTE-LAA holistic traffic balancing across the licensed and the unlicensed bands is proposed. A closed form solution for the aforementioned optimization problem is derived. An attractive aspect of the derived solution is that it can be applied online by each LTE-LAA small base station (SBS), adapting its transmission behavior in each of the bands, and without explicit communication with WiFi nodes. Simulation results show that the proposed traffic balancing scheme provides a better tradeoff between maximizing the total network throughput and achieving fairness among all network ows compared to alternative approaches from the literature. Second, UAV-enabled wireless networks are investigated. In particular, the problems of interference management for cellular-connected UAVs and the use of UAVs for providing backhaul connectivity to SBSs are studied. Speci cally, a deep RL framework based on echo state network cells is proposed for optimizing the trajectories of multiple cellular-connected UAVs while minimizing the interference level caused on the ground network. The proposed algorithm is shown to reach a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium upon convergence. Moreover, an upper and lower bound for the altitude of the UAVs is derived thus reducing the computational complexity of the proposed algorithm. Simulation results show that the proposed path planning scheme allows each UAV to achieve a tradeoff between minimizing energy efficiency, wireless latency, and the interference level caused on the ground network along its path. Moreover, in the context of UAV-enabled wireless networks, a UAV-based on-demand aerial backhaul network is proposed. For this framework, a network formation algorithm, which is guaranteed to reach a pairwise stable network upon convergence, is presented. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves substantial performance gains in terms of both rate and delay reaching, respectively, up to 3.8 and 4-fold increase compared to the formation of direct communication links with the gateway node. Overall, the results of the different proposed schemes show that these schemes yield significant improvements in the total network performance as compared to current existing literature. In essence, the proposed algorithms can also provide self-organizing solutions for several resource management problems in the context of new emerging use cases in 5G networks, such as connected autonomous vehicles and virtual reality headsets

Cognitive radio networks : quality of service considerations and enhancements

The explosive growth of wireless and mobile networks, such as the Internet of Things and 5G, has led to a massive number of devices that primarily use wireless channels within a limited range of the radio frequency spectrum (RFS). The use of RFS is heavily regulated, both nationally and internationally, and is divided into licensed and unlicensed bands. While many of the licensed wireless bands are underutilised, useable unlicensed bands are usually overcrowded, making the efficient use of RFS one of the critical challenges faced by future wireless communication technologies. The cognitive radio (CR) concept is proposed as a promising solution for the underutilisation of useful RFS bands. Fundamentally, CR technology is based on determining the unoccupied licensed RFS bands, called spectrum white spaces or holes, and accessing them to achieve better RFS utilisation and transmission propagation. The holes are the frequencies unused by the licensed user, or primary user (PU). Based on spectrum sensing, a CR node, or secondary user (SU), senses the surrounding spectrum periodically to detect any potential PU transmission in the current channel and to identify the available spectrum holes. Under current RFS regulations, SUs may use spectrum holes as long as their transmissions do not interfere with those of the PU. However, effective spectrum sensing can introduce overheads to a CR node operation. Such overheads affect the quality of service (QoS) of the running applications. Reducing the sensing impact on the QoS is one of the key challenges to adopting CR technology, and more studies of QoS issues related to implementing CR features are needed. This thesis aims to address these QoS issues in CR while considered the enhancement of RFS utilisation. This study concentrates on the spectrum sensing function, among other CR functions, because of its major impact on QoS and spectrum utilisation. Several spectrum sensing methods are reviewed to identify potential research gaps in analysing and addressing related QoS implications. It has been found that none of the well-known sensing techniques is suitable for all the diverse QoS requirements and RFS conditions: in fact, higher accuracy sensing methods cause a significant QoS degradation, as illustrated by several simulations in this work. For instance, QoS degradation caused by high-accuracy sensing has not yet been addressed in the IEEE 802.11e QoS mechanism used in the proposed CR standard, IEEE 802.11af (or White-Fi). This study finds that most of the strategies proposed to conduct sensing are based on a fixed sensing method that is not adaptable to the changeable nature of QoS requirements. In contrast, this work confirms the necessity of using various sensing techniques and parameters during a CR node operation for better performance