We propose an effective interference management and beamforming mechanism for uplink communication systems that yields fair allocation of rates. In particular, we consider a hotspot area of a millimeter-wave (mmWave) access network consisting of multiple user equipment (UE) in the uplink and multiple access points (APs) with directional antennas and adjustable beam widths and directions (beam configurations). This network suffers tremendously from multi-beam multi-user interference, and, to improve the uplink transmission performance, we propose a centralized scheme that optimizes the power, the beam width, the beam direction of the APs, and the UE - AP assignments. This problem involves both continuous and discrete variables, and it has the following structure. If we fix all discrete variables, except for those related to the UE-AP assignment, the resulting optimization problem can be solved optimally. This property enables us to propose a heuristic based on simulated annealing (SA) to address the intractable joint optimization problem with all discrete variables. In more detail, for a fixed configuration of beams, we formulate a weighted rate allocation problem where each user gets the same portion of its maximum achievable rate that it would have under non-interfered conditions. We solve this problem with an iterative fixed point algorithm that optimizes the power of UEs and the UE - AP assignment in the uplink. This fixed point algorithm is combined with SA to improve the beam configurations. Theoretical and numerical results show that the proposed method improves both the UE rates in the lower percentiles and the overall fairness in the network.
This paper proposes a cellular network exploiting millimeter-wave (mmWave) and ultra-densified base stations (BSs) to achieve the far-reaching 5G aim in downlink average rate. The mmWave overlaid network however incurs a pitfall that its ample data rate is only applicable for downlink transmissions due to the implementation difficulty at mobile users, leading to an immense difference between uplink and downlink rates. We therefore turn our attention not only to maximize downlink rate but also to ensure the minimum uplink rate. With this end, we firstly derive the mmWave overlaid ultra-dense ce…
The forthcoming 5G cellular network is expected to overlay millimeter-wave (mmW) transmissions with the incumbent micro-wave (μW) architecture. The overall mm-μW resource management should therefore harmonize with each other. This paper aims at maximizing the overall downlink (DL) rate with a minimum uplink (UL) rate constraint, and concludes: mmW tends to focus more on DL transmissions while μW has high priority for complementing UL, under time-division duplex (TDD) mmW operations. Such UL dedication of μW results from the limited use of mmW UL bandwidth due to excessive power consumption and…
Fifth-generation cellular networks are expected to exhibit at least three primary physical-layer differences relative to fourth-generation ones: millimeter-wave propagation, antenna-array directionality, and densification of base stations. In this paper, the effects of these differences on the performance of single-carrier frequency-domain multiple-access uplink systems with frequency hopping are assessed. A new analysis, which is much more detailed than any other in the existing literature and accommodates actual base-station topologies, captures the primary features of uplink communications.…
The millimeter-wave bands have been attracting significant interest as a means to achieve major improvements in data rates and network efficiencies. One significant limitation for use of the millimeter-wave bands for cellular communication is that the communication suffers from much higher path-loss compared to the microwave bands. Millimeter-wave links have also been shown to change rapidly, causing links between devices and access points to switch among line-of-sight, non-line-of-sight and outage states. We propose using Random Linear Network Coding to overcome the unreliability of individua…
Integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network is a novel radio access network (RAN) solution, enabling network densification for 5G and beyond. In this paper, we use power control combined with resource allocation algorithms to develop efficient IAB networks with high service coverage. Particularly, we develop a genetic algorithm-based solution for the power control of both user equipments and IAB nodes such that the network uplink service coverage probability is maximized. Finally, considering millimeter wave channel models, we study the effect of different parameters including minimum data ra…
In this paper, we provide an analytical framework to analyze the uplink performance of device-to-device (D2D)-enabled millimeter wave (mmWave) cellular networks. Signal-to- interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) outage probabilities are derived for both cellular and D2D links using tools from stochastic geometry. The distinguishing features of mmWave communications such as directional beamforming and having different path loss laws for line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) links are incorporated into the outage analysis by employing a flexible mode selection scheme and Nakagami fading…
Two-tier femtocell networks-- comprising a conventional macrocellular network plus embedded femtocell hotspots-- offer an economically viable solution to achieving high cellular user capacity and improved coverage. With universal frequency reuse and DS-CDMA transmission however, the ensuing cross-tier cochannel interference (CCI) causes unacceptable outage probability. This paper develops an uplink capacity analysis and interference avoidance strategy in such a two-tier CDMA network. We evaluate a network-wide area spectral efficiency metric called the \emph{operating contour (OC)} defined as …
Out of the very few studies that paid proper attention to the harmful health impacts in millimeter-wave (mmW) communications, most of them are concerned about uplink cases due to closer contact with the human body. Our recent study revealed that even the human exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields in downlink mmW technology is not very minimum to be ignored. There were a few RF exposure mitigation techniques for uplinks, but the downlink scenario is hardly paid any attention. However, this paper proposes a downlink protocol for mmW cellular communications that achieves the maximum data rate …
Wi-Fi provides cost-effective data capacity at hotspots in conjunction with broadband cellular networks. The hotspots are required to capture a large number of users and provide high data rates. Data rates, over the Wi-Fi interface, are influenced by the media access protocol, which loses throughput due to delays and unintended collisions when a large number of users are active. The hotspot range which determines the number of users, that can associate, is limited by the lower power of the client rather than the access point. By diverting the traffic destined to the access point via another ac…
The millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies offer the potential of orders of magnitude increases in capacity for next-generation cellular systems. However, links in mmWave networks are susceptible to blockage and may suffer from rapid variations in quality. Connectivity to multiple cells - at mmWave and/or traditional frequencies - is considered essential for robust communication. One of the challenges in supporting multi-connectivity in mmWaves is the requirement for the network to track the direction of each link in addition to its power and timing. To address this challenge, we implement a nov…
What does millimeter-wave (mmW) seek assistance for from micro-wave (μW) in a mmW overlaid 5G cellular network? This paper raises the question of whether to complement downlink (DL) or uplink (UL) transmissions, and concludes that μW should aid UL more. Such dedication to UL results from the low mmW UL rate due to high peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) at mobile users. The DL/UL allocations are tractably provided based on a novel closed-form mm-μW spectral efficiency (SE) derivation via stochastic geometry. The findings explicitly indicate: (i) both DL/UL mmW (or μW) SEs coincidentally conver…
Millimeter wave frequencies will likely be part of the fifth generation of mobile networks and of the 3GPP New Radio (NR) standard. MmWave communication indeed provides a very large bandwidth, thus an increased cell throughput, but how to exploit these resources at the higher layers is still an open research question. A very relevant issue is the high variability of the channel, caused by the blockage from obstacles and the human body. This affects the design of congestion control mechanisms at the transport layer, and state-of-the-art TCP schemes such as TCP CUBIC present suboptimal performan…
As an extension of cloud computing, fog computing at the edge of networks provides low latency, location awareness, and real-time interactions. At the same time, millimeter wave (mmWave) communications are able to provide directional multi-gigabit transmission rates with large available bandwidth. Based on the user mobile trajectories in a region, several activity hotspots that users pass by frequently can be obtained. By caching popular content at the edge nodes near the hotspots, users can download the cached content directly at a short distance, and the user experience can be significantly …
Millimeter wave (mmW) communication is a promising solution for providing high-capacity wireless network access. However, the benefits of mmW are limited by the fact that the channel between a mmW access point and the user equipment can stochastically change due to severe blockage of mmW links by obstacles such as the human body. Thus, one main challenge of mmW network coverage is to enable directional line-of-sight links between access points and mobile devices. In this paper, a novel framework is proposed for optimizing mmW network coverage within hotspots and in-venue regions, while being c…
We study whether realistic 5G mm-wave cellular networks would cause harmful out-of-band interference to weather satellites sensing in the 23.8 GHz band. We estimate uplink and downlink interference from a single interferer and a network of interferers in New York City, using real 3D building data and realistic antenna patterns. We perform detailed ray-tracing propagation simulations, for locations of the MetOp-B weather satellite and its scanning orientations and ground interferer antenna orientations for representative urban cell sites. In addition to the ITU-R threshold of -136 dBm/200 MHz, …
Small cells are a cost-effective way to reliably expand network coverage and provide significantly increased capacity for end users. The ultra-high bandwidth available at millimeter (mmWave) and Terahertz (THz) frequencies can effectively realize short-range wireless access links in small cells enabling potential uses cases such as driver-less cars, data backhauling and ultra-high-definition infotainment services. This paper describes a new software defined network (SDN) framework for vehicles equipped with transceivers capable of dynamically switching between THz and mmWave bands. We present …
In this paper, we consider the motion energy minimization problem for a robot that uses millimeter-wave (mm-wave) communications assisted by an intelligent reflective surface (IRS). The robot must perform tasks within given deadlines and it is subject to uplink quality of service (QoS) constraints. This problem is crucial for fully automated factories that are governed by the binomial of autonomous robots and new generations of mobile communications, i.e., 5G and 6G. In this new context, robot energy efficiency and communication reliability remain fundamental problems that couple in optimizing…
Propelled by multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as mobile hotspots have recently emerged as an attractive wireless communication paradigm. Rate adaptation (RA) becomes indispensable to enhance UAV communication robustness against UAV mobility-induced channel variances. However, existing MU-MIMO RA algorithms are mainly designed for ground communications with relatively stable channel coherence time, which incurs channel measurement staleness and sub-optimal rate selections when coping with highly dynamic air-to-ground links. In this paper, we propose SensRate…
Heterogeneous cellular networks (HCNs) with millimeter wave (mm-wave) communications are considered as a promising technology for the fifth generation mobile networks. Mm-wave has the potential to provide multiple gigabit data rate due to the broad spectrum. Unfortunately, additional free space path loss is also caused by the high carrier frequency. On the other hand, mm-wave signals are sensitive to obstacles and more vulnerable to blocking effects. To address this issue, highly directional narrow beams are utilized in mm-wave networks. Additionally, device-to-device (D2D) users make full use…
