5G New Radio for Terrestrial Broadcast: A Forward-Looking Approach for NR-MBMS

"© 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permissíon from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertisíng or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works."[EN] 3GPP LTE eMBMS release (Rel-) 14, also referred to as further evolved multimedia broadcast multicast service (FeMBMS) or enhanced TV (EnTV), is the first mobile broadband technology standard to incorporate a transmission mode designed to deliver terrestrial broadcast services from conventional high power high tower (HPHT) broadcast infrastructure. With respect to the physical layer, the main improvements in FeMBMS are the support of larger inter-site distance for single frequency networks (SFNs) and the ability to allocate 100% of a carrier's resources to the broadcast payload, with self-contained signaling in the downlink. From the system architecture perspective, a receive-only mode enables free-to-air (FTA) reception with no need for an uplink or SIM card, thus receiving content without user equipment registration with a network. These functionalities are only available in the LTE advanced pro specifications as 5G new radio (NR), standardized in 3GPP from Rel-15, has so far focused entirely on unicast. This paper outlines a physical layer design for NR-MBMS, a system derived, with minor modifications, from the 5G-NR specifications, and suitable for the transmission of linear TV and radio services in either single-cell or SFN operation. This paper evaluates the NR-MBMS proposition and compares it to LTE-based FeMBMS in terms of flexibility, performance, capacity, and coverage.This work was supported in part by the European Commission through the 5G-PPP Project 5G-Xcast (H2020-ICT-2016-2 call) under Grant 761498.Gimenez, JJ.; Carcel, JL.; Fuentes, M.; Garro, E.; Elliott, S.; Vargas, D.; Menzel, C.... (2019). 5G New Radio for Terrestrial Broadcast: A Forward-Looking Approach for NR-MBMS. IEEE Transactions on Broadcasting. 65(2):356-368. https://doi.org/10.1109/TBC.2019.291211735636865

Potentzia domeinuko NOMA 5G sareetarako eta haratago

Tesis inglés 268 p. -- Tesis euskera 274 p.During the last decade, the amount of data carried over wireless networks has grown exponentially. Several reasons have led to this situation, but the most influential ones are the massive deployment of devices connected to the network and the constant evolution in the services offered. In this context, 5G targets the correct implementation of every application integrated into the use cases. Nevertheless, the biggest challenge to make ITU-R defined cases (eMBB, URLLC and mMTC) a reality is the improvement in spectral efficiency. Therefore, in this thesis, a combination of two mechanisms is proposed to improve spectral efficiency: Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) techniques and Radio Resource Management (RRM) schemes. Specifically, NOMA transmits simultaneously several layered data flows so that the whole bandwidth is used throughout the entire time to deliver more than one service simultaneously. Then, RRM schemes provide efficient management and distribution of radio resources among network users. Although NOMA techniques and RRM schemes can be very advantageous in all use cases, this thesis focuses on making contributions in eMBB and URLLC environments and proposing solutions to communications that are expected to be relevant in 6G

Content delivery over multi-antenna wireless networks

The past few decades have witnessed unprecedented advances in information technology, which have significantly shaped the way we acquire and process information in our daily lives. Wireless communications has become the main means of access to data through mobile devices, resulting in a continuous exponential growth in wireless data traffic, mainly driven by the demand for high quality content. Various technologies have been proposed by researchers to tackle this growth in 5G and beyond, including the use of increasing number of antenna elements, integrated point-to-multipoint delivery and caching, which constitute the core of this thesis. In particular, we study non-orthogonal content delivery in multiuser multiple-input-single-output (MISO) systems. First, a joint beamforming strategy for simultaneous delivery of broadcast and unicast services is investigated, based on layered division multiplexing (LDM) as a means of superposition coding. The system performance in terms of minimum required power under prescribed quality-of-service (QoS) requirements is examined in comparison with time division multiplexing (TDM). It is demonstrated through simulations that the non-orthogonal delivery strategy based on LDM significantly outperforms the orthogonal strategy based on TDM in terms of system throughput and reliability. To facilitate efficient implementation of the LDM-based beamforming design, we further propose a dual decomposition-based distributed approach. Next, we study an efficient multicast beamforming design in cache-aided multiuser MISO systems, exploiting proactive content placement and coded delivery. It is observed that the complexity of this problem grows exponentially with the number of subfiles delivered to each user in each time slot, which itself grows exponentially with the number of users in the system. Therefore, we propose a low-complexity alternative through time-sharing that limits the number of subfiles that can be received by a user in each time slot. Moreover, a joint design of content delivery and multicast beamforming is proposed to further enhance the system performance, under the constraint on maximum number of subfiles each user can decode in each time slot. Finally, conclusions are drawn in Chapter 5, followed by an outlook for future works.Open Acces

Nonorthogonal Multiple Access and Subgrouping for Improved Resource Allocation in Multicast 5G NR

The ever-increasing demand for applications with stringent constraints in device density, latency, user mobility, or peak data rate has led to the appearance of the last generation of mobile networks (i.e., 5G). However, there is still room for improvement in the network spectral efficiency, not only at the waveform level but also at the Radio Resource Management (RRM). Up to now, solutions based on multicast transmissions have presented considerable efficiency increments by successfully implementing subgrouping strategies. These techniques enable more efficient exploitation of channel time and frequency resources by splitting users into subgroups and applying independent and adaptive modulation and coding schemes. However, at the RRM, traditional multiplexing techniques pose a hard limit in exploiting the available resources, especially when users' QoS requests are unbalanced. Under these circumstances, this paper proposes jointly applying the subgrouping and Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) techniques in 5G to increase the network data rate. This study shows that NOMA is highly spectrum-efficient and could improve the system throughput performance in certain conditions. In the first part of this paper, an in-depth analysis of the implications of introducing NOMA techniques in 5G subgrouping at RRM is carried out. Afterward, the validation is accomplished by applying the proposed approach to different 5G use cases based on vehicular communications. After a comprehensive analysis of the results, a theoretical approach combining NOMA and time division is presented, which improves considerably the data rate offered in each use case.This work was supported in part by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR), within the Smart Cities framework, Project Cagliari2020 ID: PON04a2_00381; in part by the Basque Government under Grant IT1234-19; and in part by the Spanish Government [Project PHANTOM under Grant RTI2018-099162-B-I00 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE)]

Models and Methods for Network Selection and Balancing in Heterogeneous Scenarios

The outbreak of 5G technologies for wireless communications can be considered a response to the need for widespread coverage, in terms of connectivity and bandwidth, to guarantee broadband services, such as streaming or on-demand programs offered by the main television networks or new generation services based on augmented and virtual reality (AR / VR). The purpose of the study conducted for this thesis aims to solve two of the main problems that will occur with the outbreak of 5G, that is, the search for the best possible connectivity, in order to offer users the resources necessary to take advantage of the new generation services, and multicast as required by the eMBMS. The aim of the thesis is the search for innovative algorithms that will allow to obtain the best connectivity to offer users the resources necessary to use the 5G services in a heterogeneous scenario. Study UF that allows you to improve the search for the best candidate network and to achieve a balance that allows you to avoid congestion of the chosen networks. To achieve these two important focuses, I conducted a study on the main mathematical methods that made it possible to select the network based on QoS parameters based on the type of traffic made by users. A further goal was to improve the computational computation performance they present. Furthermore, I carried out a study in order to obtain an innovative algorithm that would allow the management of multicast. The algorithm that has been implemented responds to the needs present in the eMBMS, in realistic scenarios

Full Stack 5G Physical Layer Transceiver Design for NOMA in Mobile Heterogeneous Networks

The Fifth Generation (5G) and Beyond 5G (B5G) wireless networks are emerging with a variety of new capabilities, focusing on Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), enabling new use cases and services. With this massive increment of mMTC along with increasing users, higher network capacity is a must for 5G and B5G. The integration of mMTC with traditional user traffic creates a heterogeneous network landscape. To address this challenge, future network designs must prioritize optimizing spectrum efficiency while meeting diverse service demands. Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA) stands out as a promising technology for enhancing both system capacity and operational efficiency in such heterogeneous networks. Due to its non-orthogonal resource allocation, NOMA outperforms Orthogonal Multiple Access (OMA) in spectral efficiency, throughput, and user capacity, while also offering superior scalability and adaptability to network heterogeneity. Despite its promising advantages, large-scale implementation of NOMA in cellular systems remains elusive due to various challenges, making it a focal point of current research in cellular network technology. While there has been considerable progress in implementing NOMA for broadcast and multicast services, notably with Layer Division Multiplexing (LDM) in next-generation digital TV, the challenges of unicast downlink transmission in NOMA remain largely unexplored. Unicast transmission requires a highly tailored network configuration adaptable to individual user requirements and dynamic channel conditions. Clustering users under a single NOMA channel must be both efficient and adaptive to ensure successful transmission, especially for mobile receiver. Besides, the interplay between NOMA and other 5G technologies remains insufficiently explored, in part due to the lack of an established NOMA-5G framework. Specifically, the collective impact of 5G physical layer technologies such as Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC) coding, Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Beamforming, and mmWave transmission on NOMA’s performance has not been comprehensively studied. Furthermore, in NOMA schemes involving more than two multiplexed users, known as Multilayer NOMA (N-NOMA), the system becomes increasingly complex and susceptible to noise. While N-NOMA holds considerable promise for scalability, its performance metrics are not yet fully characterized, due to challenges ranging from resource allocation complexities to transceiver design issues. Additionally, existing analytical models for performance evaluation are developed for orthogonal systems, are not fully applicable for assessing NOMA performance. Developing new models that incorporate the impact of non-orthogonality could provide more accurate performance assessments and offer valuable insights for future NOMA research. Initially this thesis investigates the feasibility of LDM for unicast & multicast downlink transmission scenarios for Internet of Things (IoT)- user pairs. The findings indicate the Core Layer (CL) performance aligns with IoT requirements while Enhance Layer (EL) layer is suitable for users. A specialized Bit Error Rate (BER) expression is formulated to precisely predict CL performance, considering Lower Layer (LL) interference with predefined power ratio. Subsequently, the thesis employs a novel surface mobility model and adaptive power ratio allocation to evaluate LDM pair sustainability under various receiver mobility conditions. Extending the LDM-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) model, this thesis presents a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)-compliant 5G transceiver incorporating N-NOMA. This design incorporates a strategically-arranged set of NOMA functionalities and undergoes a rigorous performance evaluation. In particular, the transceiver provides a comprehensive assessment of N-NOMA performance, considering various transmission parameters such as LDPC code rate, MIMO order, modulation schemes, and channel specifications. These considerations not only provide new insights into non-orthogonal access technologies but also highlight dependencies on these factors for network configuration and optimization. To further advance this work, a one-shot N-NOMA multiplexing technique is developed and implemented, simplifying multi-layer standard sequential combiners to reduce transmission latency and transceiver complexity. A more accurate analytical BER expression is also formulated that considers the impact of both residual and non-residual Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) errors across NOMA layers. To build upon these advancements, an adaptive Power Allocation (PA) technique is introduced to optimize NOMA cluster sustainability and throughput. Employing a greedy algorithmic approach, this method uses real-time transmission feedback to dynamically allocate power across NOMA layers. In addition, a new Three Dimensional (3D) mobility model has been developed, consistent with existing 3GPP standards, capturing vehicular and pedestrian movement across urban and rural macro & micro-cell environments. When integrated with the PA technique, this model allows for real-time adjustments in the NOMA power ratio, effectively adapting to fluctuating receiver channel conditions. Collectively, the findings from this research not only indicate significant physical layer performance improvements but also provide new insights into the potential of non-orthogonal access technologies. In the LDM-OFDM setup presented in Chapter 3, the EL layer needs 15 dB more Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) than the CL to achieve the same BER, but allows for higher data rates. When it comes to mobility, IoT movement accounts for about 70% of link terminations in scenarios with similar mobility patterns. The N-NOMA-5G shows significant improvement in low SNR performance compared to existing literature. The 3 layer simulations shows on average a 60% reduction in the SNR requirements to achieve similar BER. The implementation of a one-shot multiplexer has demonstrated a substantial reduction in N-NOMA multiplexing time, particularly with the growing number of NOMA layers, as detailed in Chapter 4. Notably, the simulation outcomes spanning 2 to 10 layers of NOMA multiplexing indicate an remarkable 52% reduction in processing time. This underscores the effectiveness of the one-shot multiplexer in enhancing efficiency, particularly as the complexity of the NOMA setup intensifies. The developed analytical model also shows over 95% similarities with the simulation results. The impact of dynamic PA for both static and mobile receivers demonstrates on average, over 40% improvements in link sustainability time for mobile users and for static users, it achieves optimal PA and fast convergence within just 12 iterations, as detailed in Chapter 5