LTE-Advanced - Evolving LTE towards IMT-Advanced

Abstract — This paper provides a high-level overview of some technology components currently considered for the evolution of LTE including complete fulfillment of the IMT-Advanced requirements. These technology components include extended spectrum flexibility, multi-antenna solutions, coordinated multipoint transmission/reception, and the use of advanced repeaters/relaying. A simple performance assessment is also included, indicating potential for significantly increased performance. Keywords-LTE, IMT-Advanced, LTE-Advanced, 4G I

On Integrated Access and Backhaul Networks: Current Status and Potentials

In this paper, we introduce and study the potentials and challenges of integrated access and backhaul (IAB) as one of the promising techniques for evolving 5G networks. We study IAB networks from different perspectives. We summarize the recent Rel-16 as well as the upcoming Rel-17 3GPP discussions on IAB, and highlight the main IAB-specific agreements on different protocol layers. Also, concentrating on millimeter wave-based communications, we evaluate the performance of IAB networks in both dense and suburban areas. Using a finite stochastic geometry model, with random distributions of IAB nodes as well as user equipments (UEs) in a finite region, we study the service coverage rate defined as the probability of the event that the UEs' minimum rate requirements are satisfied. We present comparisons between IAB and hybrid IAB/fiber-backhauled networks where a part or all of the small base stations are fiber-connected. Finally, we study the robustness of IAB networks to weather and various deployment conditions and verify their effects, such as blockage, tree foliage, rain as well as antenna height/gain on the coverage rate of IAB setups, as the key differences between the fiber-connected and IAB networks. As we show, IAB is an attractive approach to enable the network densification required by 5G and beyond.Comment: Revised manuscript in IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Societ

Predictor Antenna: A Technique to Boost the Performance of Moving Relays

In future wireless systems, a large number of users may access the networks via moving relays (MRs) installed on top of vehicles. One of the main challenges of MRs is rapid channel variation which may make channel estimation, and its following procedures, difficult. To address these issues, various schemes are designed, among which predictor antenna (PA) is a candidate. The PA setup refers to a system with two (sets of) antennas on top of a vehicle, where the PA(s) positioned in front of the vehicle is(are) utilized to predict the channel state information required for data transmission to the receive antennas (RAs) aligned behind the PA. In this paper, we introduce the concept and the potentials of PA systems. Moreover, summarizing the field trials for PAs and the 3GPP attempts on (moving) relays, we compare the performance of different PA and non-PA methods for vehicle communications in both urban and rural areas with the PA setup backhauled through terrestrial or satellite technology, respectively. As we show, with typical parameter settings and vehicle speeds, a single-antenna PA-assisted setup can boost the backhaul throughput of MRs, compared to state-of-the-art open-loop schemes, by up to 50%

On Topology Optimization and Routing in Integrated Access and Backhaul Networks: A Genetic Algorithm-Based Approach

In this paper, we study the problem of topology optimization and routing in integrated access and backhaul (IAB) networks, as one of the promising techniques for evolving 5G networks. We study the problem from different perspectives. We develop efficient genetic algorithm-based schemes for both IAB node placement and non-IAB backhaul link distribution, and evaluate the effect of routing on bypassing temporal blockages. Here, concentrating on millimeter wave-based communications, we study the service coverage probability, defined as the probability of the event that the user equipments\u27 (UEs) minimum rate requirements are satisfied. Moreover, we study the effect of different parameters such as the antenna gain, blockage, and tree foliage on the system performance. Finally, we summarize the recent Rel-16 as well as the upcoming Rel-17 3GPP discussions on routing in IAB networks, and discuss the main challenges for enabling mesh-based IAB networks. As we show, with a proper network topology, IAB is an attractive approach to enable the network densification required by 5G and beyond

Expression of FBN1 during adipogenesis:relevance to the lipodystrophy phenotype in Marfan syndrome and related conditions

Fibrillin-1 is a large glycoprotein encoded by the FBN1 gene in humans. It provides strength and elasticity to connective tissues and is involved in regulating the bioavailability of the growth factor TGF beta. Mutations in FBN1 may be associated with depleted or abnormal adipose tissue, seen in some patients with Marfan syndrome and lipodystrophies. As this lack of adipose tissue does not result in high morbidity or mortality, it is generally under-appreciated, but is a cause of psychosocial problems particularly to young patients. We examined the role of fibrillin-1 in adipogenesis. In inbred mouse strains we found significant variation in the level of expression in the Fbn1 gene that correlated with variation in several measures of body fat, suggesting that mouse fibrillin-1 is associated with the level of fat tissue. Furthermore, we found that FBN1 mRNA was up-regulated in the adipose tissue of obese women compared to non-obese, and associated with an increase in adipocyte size. We used human mesenchymal stem cells differentiated in culture to adipocytes to show that fibrillin-1 declines after the initiation of differentiation. Gene expression results from a similar experiment (available through the FANTOM5 project) revealed that the decline in fibrillin-1 protein was paralleled by a decline in FBN1 mRNA. Examination of the FBN1 gene showed that the region commonly affected in FBN1-associated lipodystrophy is highly conserved both across the three human fibrillin genes and across genes encoding fibrillin-1 in vertebrates. These results suggest that fibrillin-1 is involved as the undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cells transition to adipogenesis but then declines as the developing adipocytes take on their final phenotype. Since the C-terminal peptide of fibrillin-1 is a glucogenic hormone, individuals with low fibrillin-1 (for example with FBN1 mutations associated with lipodystrophy) may fail to differentiate adipocytes and/or to accumulate adipocyte lipids, although this still needs to be shown experimentally. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc

Mathematical models and simulation of tumor growth, radiation response, and micro-environment

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation.December 2019. Major: Biophysical Sciences and Medical Physics. Advisor: Yoichi Watanabe. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 111 pages.Reaction--diffusion based tumor models have been used to explore tumor growth for the past 30 years. These models have been used to investigate the effects of various treatment options such as surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. These previous models have all focused only on dividing cell populations. In this work we will develop a reaction--diffusion model for radiation therapy treatment that includes three populations: (1) dividing cells that healthy and divide as normal; (2) doomed cells that have been irradiated and received lethal damage, but continue to divide for several generations before expiring; and (3) dead cells that have expired, but have not yet been removed from the tumor site thus contributing to the overall tumor volume. Section 1 will give an introductory overview of radiation physics, the radiobiology, and cellular mechanics necessary for the model. Section 2 will review previous diffusion models and lay the mathematical framework for the current model and the numerical methods needed to solve it. The current model is a system of partial differential equations that are solved using a Crank--Nicolson tri--diagonal matrix method. Section 3 will review the results of applying the model to both experimental rat data from historical literature as well as patient data from brain metastases treated with Gamma Knife stereotactic radiosurgery. Section 4 will use the model to investigate the effects of non--uniform dose distributions on the end volume of tumors treated with multi--fraction treatments. The biologically effective dose (BED) formula is generally used to calculate dose per fraction values for multiple--fraction treatments to ensure that they would have the same biological effect as a single--fraction treatment. This section will show that if the dose distribution is not uniform across the tumor, the standard BED formula does not satisfy this assumption and a new formula is developed to calculate dose per fraction values. Finally, Section 5 will apply the diffusion concept to the reoxygenation of a tumor site. A two--dimensional diffusion model for oxygen within a tumor is solved using an alternating direction implicit (ADI) Crank--Nicolson method. This 2D model will be used to determine the effect of the loss of oxygen input to the tumor site on the oxygen distribution within that tumor site. We intend for this extension of reaction--diffusion based tumor models to help drive improvement to treatment optimization by being able to accurately simulate near--term tumor response to radiation