What will 5G be? What it will not be is an incremental advance on 4G. The previous four generations of cellular technology have each been a major paradigm shift that has broken backward compatibility. Indeed, 5G will need to be a paradigm shift that includes very high carrier frequencies with massive bandwidths, extreme base station and device densities, and unprecedented numbers of antennas. However, unlike the previous four generations, it will also be highly integrative: tying any new 5G air interface and spectrum together with LTE and WiFi to provide universal high-rate coverage and a seamless user experience. To support this, the core network will also have to reach unprecedented levels of flexibility and intelligence, spectrum regulation will need to be rethought and improved, and energy and cost efficiencies will become even more critical considerations. This paper discusses all of these topics, identifying key challenges for future research and preliminary 5G standardization activities, while providing a comprehensive overview of the current literature, and in particular of the papers appearing in this special issue.

What Will 5G Be

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Millimeter wave (mmWave) cellular systems will enable gigabit-per-second data rates thanks to the large bandwidth available at mmWave frequencies. To realize sufficient link margin, mmWave systems will employ directional beamforming with large antenna arrays at both the transmitter and receiver. Due to the high cost and power consumption of gigasample mixed-signal devices, mmWave precoding will likely be divided among the analog and digital domains. The large number of antennas and the presence of analog beamforming requires the development of mmWave-specific channel estimation and precoding algorithms. This paper develops an adaptive algorithm to estimate the mmWave channel parameters that exploits the poor scattering nature of the channel. To enable the efficient operation of this algorithm, a novel hierarchical multi-resolution codebook is designed to construct training beamforming vectors with different beamwidths. For single-path channels, an upper bound on the estimation error probability using the proposed algorithm is derived, and some insights into the efficient allocation of the training power among the adaptive stages of the algorithm are obtained. The adaptive channel estimation algorithm is then extended to the multi-path case relying on the sparse nature of the channel. Using the estimated channel, this paper proposes a new hybrid analog/digital precoding algorithm that overcomes the hardware constraints on the analog-only beamforming, and approaches the performance of digital solutions. Simulation results show that the proposed low-complexity channel estimation algorithm achieves comparable precoding gains compared to exhaustive channel training algorithms. The results illustrate that the proposed channel estimation and precoding algorithms can approach the coverage probability achieved by perfect channel knowledge even in the presence of interference.

Channel Estimation and Hybrid Precoding for Millimeter Wave Cellular Systems

Communication at millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies is defining a new era of wireless communication. The mmWave band offers higher bandwidth communication channels versus those presently used in commercial wireless systems. The applications of mmWave are immense: wireless local and personal area networks in the unlicensed band, 5G cellular systems, not to mention vehicular area networks, ad hoc networks, and wearables. Signal processing is critical for enabling the next generation of mmWave communication. Due to the use of large antenna arrays at the transmitter and receiver, combined with radio frequency and mixed signal power constraints, new multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication signal processing techniques are needed. Because of the wide bandwidths, low complexity transceiver algorithms become important. There are opportunities to exploit techniques like compressed sensing for channel estimation and beamforming. This article provides an overview of signal processing challenges in mmWave wireless systems, with an emphasis on those faced by using MIMO communication at higher carrier frequencies.

An Overview of Signal Processing Techniques for Millimeter Wave MIMO Systems

With the severe spectrum shortage in conventional cellular bands, millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies between 30 and 300 GHz have been attracting growing attention as a possible candidate for next-generation micro- and picocellular wireless networks. The mmW bands offer orders of magnitude greater spectrum than current cellular allocations and enable very high-dimensional antenna arrays for further gains via beamforming and spatial multiplexing. This paper uses recent real-world measurements at 28 and 73 GHz in New York, NY, USA, to derive detailed spatial statistical models of the channels and uses these models to provide a realistic assessment of mmW micro- and picocellular networks in a dense urban deployment. Statistical models are derived for key channel parameters, including the path loss, number of spatial clusters, angular dispersion, and outage. It is found that, even in highly non-line-of-sight environments, strong signals can be detected 100-200 m from potential cell sites, potentially with multiple clusters to support spatial multiplexing. Moreover, a system simulation based on the models predicts that mmW systems can offer an order of magnitude increase in capacity over current state-of-the-art 4G cellular networks with no increase in cell density from current urban deployments.

http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/document/view;NEWECFSSESSION=ThTmVg1SGvsFqgxGKYfckQC26BmBGYLH2jpL5z0dMms1j21m5YTC!-1110365353!-349327291?id=60001013324

Millimeter Wave Channel Modeling and Cellular Capacity Evaluation

Large-scale blockages such as buildings affect the performance of urban cellular networks, especially at higher frequencies. Unfortunately, such blockage effects are either neglected or characterized by oversimplified models in the analysis of cellular networks. Leveraging concepts from random shape theory, this paper proposes a mathematical framework to model random blockages and analyze their impact on cellular network performance. Random buildings are modeled as a process of rectangles with random sizes and orientations whose centers form a Poisson point process on the plane. The distribution of the number of blockages in a link is proven to be a Poisson random variable with parameter dependent on the length of the link. Our analysis shows that the probability that a link is not intersected by any blockages decays exponentially with the link length. A path loss model that incorporates the blockage effects is also proposed, which matches experimental trends observed in prior work. The model is applied to analyze the performance of cellular networks in urban areas with the presence of buildings, in terms of connectivity, coverage probability, and average rate. Our results show that the base station density should scale superlinearly with the blockage density to maintain the network connectivity. Our analyses also show that while buildings may block the desired signal, they may still have a positive impact on the SIR coverage probability and achievable rate since they can block significantly more interference.

Analysis of Blockage Effects on Urban Cellular Networks

In a two-way relay channel, two sources use one or more relay nodes to exchange data with each other. This paper considers a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) two-way relay channel, where each relay node has one or more antennas. Optimal relay transmission strategies for the two-way relay channel are derived to maximize the achievable rate with amplify and forward (AF) at each relay and to achieve the optimal diversity-multiplexing tradeoff (DM-tradeoff). To maximize the achievable rate with AF, an iterative algorithm is proposed which solves a power minimization problem subject to minimum signal-to-interference-and-noise ratio constraints at every step. The power minimization problem is nonconvex. The Karush Kuhn Tucker conditions, however, are shown to be sufficient for optimality. Capacity scaling law of the two-way relay channel with increasing number of relays is also established by deriving a lower and upper bound on the capacity region of the two-way relay channel. To achieve the optimal DM-tradeoff, a compress and forward strategy is proposed and its DM-tradeoff is derived. For the full-duplex two-way relay channel, the proposed strategy achieves the optimal DM-tradeoff, while for the half-duplex case the proposed strategy is shown to achieve the optimal DM-tradeoff under some conditions.

On the Capacity and Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff of the Two-Way Relay Channel

The transmission capacity of an ad-hoc network is the maximum density of active transmitters per unit area, given an outage constraint at each receiver for a fixed rate of transmission. Assuming that the transmitter locations are distributed as a Poisson point process, this paper derives upper and lower bounds on the transmission capacity of an ad-hoc network when each node is equipped with multiple antennas. The transmitter either uses eigen multi-mode beamforming or a subset of its antennas without channel information to transmit multiple data streams, while the receiver uses partial zero forcing to cancel certain interferers using some of its spatial receive degrees of freedom (SRDOF). The receiver either cancels the nearest interferers or those interferers that maximize the post-cancellation signal-to-interference ratio. Using the obtained bounds, the optimal number of data streams to transmit, and the optimal SRDOF to use for interference cancellation are derived that provide the best scaling of the transmission capacity with the number of antennas. With beamforming, single data stream transmission together with using all but one SRDOF for interference cancellation is optimal, while without beamforming, single data stream transmission together with using a fraction of the total SRDOF for interference cancellation is optimal.

Transmission Capacity of Ad-hoc Networks With Multiple Antennas Using Transmit Stream Adaptation and Interference Cancellation

The transmission capacity of an ad-hoc network is the maximum density of active transmitters in an unit area, given an outage constraint at each receiver for a fixed rate of transmission. Assuming channel state information is available at the receiver, this paper presents bounds on the transmission capacity as a function of the number of antennas used for transmission, and the spatial receive degrees of freedom used for interference cancelation at the receiver. Canceling the strongest interferers, using a single antenna for transmission together with using all but one spatial receive degrees of freedom for interference cancelation is shown to maximize the transmission capacity. Canceling the closest interferers, using a single antenna for transmission together with using a fraction of the total spatial receive degrees of freedom for interference cancelation depending on the path loss exponent, is shown to maximize the transmission capacity.

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Transmission capacity of ad-hoc networks with multiple antennas using transmit stream adaptation and interference cancelation

Shadow fading is severe in downtown areas where buildings are densely located. This paper proposes a stochastic model to quantify blockages due to shadowing, using methods from random shape theory. Buildings inside a cell are modeled as line segments with random sizes and orientations, with locations from a spatial Poisson point process. Dense urban areas can be modeled by the parameters of the line process. Based on this construction, the distribution of the power loss caused by shadowing in a particular path is expressed in closed form. The distribution can be used to compute several performance metrics of interest in random systems. Simulations illustrate coverage and connectivity as a function of the metrics of blockages, such as the density and the average size of buildings.

Rahul Vaze

Papers

Analysis of Blockage Effects on Urban Cellular Networks

On the Capacity and Diversity-Multiplexing Tradeoff of the Two-Way Relay Channel

Transmission Capacity of Ad-hoc Networks With Multiple Antennas Using Transmit Stream Adaptation and Interference Cancellation

Transmission capacity of ad-hoc networks with multiple antennas using transmit stream adaptation and interference cancelation

Using random shape theory to model blockage in random cellular networks