scispace - formally typeset
Search or ask a question
Journal ArticleDOI

Millimeter-Wave Cellular Wireless Networks: Potentials and Challenges

05 Feb 2014-Vol. 102, Iss: 3, pp 366-385
TL;DR: Measurements and capacity studies are surveyed to assess mmW technology with a focus on small cell deployments in urban environments and it is shown that mmW systems can offer more than an order of magnitude increase in capacity over current state-of-the-art 4G cellular networks at current cell densities.
Abstract: Millimeter-wave (mmW) frequencies between 30 and 300 GHz are a new frontier for cellular communication that offers the promise of orders of magnitude greater bandwidths combined with further gains via beamforming and spatial multiplexing from multielement antenna arrays. This paper surveys measurements and capacity studies to assess this technology with a focus on small cell deployments in urban environments. The conclusions are extremely encouraging; measurements in New York City at 28 and 73 GHz demonstrate that, even in an urban canyon environment, significant non-line-of-sight (NLOS) outdoor, street-level coverage is possible up to approximately 200 m from a potential low-power microcell or picocell base station. In addition, based on statistical channel models from these measurements, it is shown that mmW systems can offer more than an order of magnitude increase in capacity over current state-of-the-art 4G cellular networks at current cell densities. Cellular systems, however, will need to be significantly redesigned to fully achieve these gains. Specifically, the requirement of highly directional and adaptive transmissions, directional isolation between links, and significant possibilities of outage have strong implications on multiple access, channel structure, synchronization, and receiver design. To address these challenges, the paper discusses how various technologies including adaptive beamforming, multihop relaying, heterogeneous network architectures, and carrier aggregation can be leveraged in the mmW context.
Citations
More filters
Proceedings ArticleDOI
12 Sep 2022
TL;DR: In this article , a comprehensive study on the mobility performance of FCHO with respect to mobility failures and signaling overhead in frequency range 2 (FR2) is carried out, and the performance of the FCHO is compared with the traditional CHO for two different multi-panel UE (MPUE) schemes.
Abstract: Conditional handover (CHO) is a state-of-the-art 3GPP handover mechanism used in 5G networks. Although it improves mobility robustness by reducing mobility failures, the decoupling of the handover preparation and execution phases in CHO significantly increases the signaling overhead. For 5G-Advanced networks, fast CHO (FCHO) is a recent 3GPP proposal that offers a practical solution whereby the user equipment (UE) can reuse earlier target cell preparations after each handover to autonomously execute subsequent handovers. This saves the signaling overhead associated with the reconfiguration and repreparation of target cells after each handover. In this paper, a comprehensive study on the mobility performance of FCHO with respect to mobility failures and signaling overhead in frequency range 2 (FR2) is carried out. In particular, the performance of FCHO is compared with CHO for two different multi-panel UE (MPUE) schemes. Results show that FCHO substantially reduces the signaling overhead of CHO, while at the same time it also reduces mobility failures due to faster triggering of the handover that is achieved by saving the preparation delay.

2 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors provide a comprehensive survey on mmWave beamforming enabled UAV communications and networking, and provide an overview on relevant mmWave antenna structures and channel modeling.
Abstract: Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have found widespread commercial, civilian, and military applications. Wireless communication has always been one of the core technologies for UAV. However, the communication capacity is becoming a bottleneck for UAV to support more challenging application scenarios. The heavily-occupied sub-6 GHz frequency band is not sufficient to meet the ultra high-data-traffic requirements. The utilization of the millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency bands is a promising direction for UAV communications, where large antenna arrays can be packed in a small area on the UAV to perform three-dimensional (3D) beamforming. On the other hand, UAVs serving as aerial access points or relays can significantly enhance the coverage and quality of service of the terrestrial mmWave cellular networks. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on mmWave beamforming enabled UAV communications and networking. The technical potential of and challenges for mmWave-UAV communications are presented first. Then, we provide an overview on relevant mmWave antenna structures and channel modeling. Subsequently, the technologies and solutions for UAV-connected mmWave cellular networks and mmWave-UAV ad hoc networks are reviewed, respectively. Finally, we present open issues and promising directions for future research in mmWave beamforming enabled UAV communications and networking.

2 citations

14 Oct 2014
TL;DR: This work proposes a novel channel estimation method for MMW systems where both transmitter and receiver are equipped with less radio frequency chains than antennas and implement hybrid analog-digital beamforming.
Abstract: The usage of the millimeter wave (MMW) band in the 5th generation (5G) networks relies on beamforming to compensate the strong path-loss suffered at higher frequencies. In this work we propose a novel channel estimation method for MMW systems where both transmitter and receiver are equipped with less radio frequency chains than antennas and implement hybrid analog-digital beamforming.

2 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: An analytical framework for mm-wave beamformed cell discovery based on an information theoretical approach is provided and results reveal that for cell discovery without knowledge of beacon timing, analog/hybrid beamforming performs as well as digital beamforming in terms of cell discovery latency.
Abstract: Availability of abundant spectrum has enabled millimeter wave (mm-wave) as a prominent candidate solution for the next generation cellular networks. Highly directional transmissions are essential for exploitation of mm-wave bands to compensate high propagation loss and attenuation. The directional transmission, nevertheless, necessitates a specific design for mm-wave initial cell discovery, as conventional omni-directional broadcast signaling may fail in delivering the cell discovery information. To address this issue, this paper provides an analytical framework for mm-wave beamformed cell discovery based on an information theoretical approach. Design options are compared considering four fundamental and representative broadcast signaling schemes to evaluate discovery latency and signaling overhead. The schemes are then simulated under realistic system parameters. Analytical and simulation results reveals four key findings: (i) For cell discovery without knowledge of beacon timing, analog/hybrid beamforming performs as well as digital beamforming in terms of cell discovery latency; (ii) Single beam exhaustive scan optimize the latency, however leads to overhead penalty; (iii) Multi-beam simultaneous scan can significantly reduce the overhead, and provide the flexibility to achieve trade-off between the latency and the overhead; (iv) The latency and the overhead are relatively insensitive to extreme low block error rates.

2 citations


Cites background from "Millimeter-Wave Cellular Wireless N..."

  • ...SA (email: caire@tu-berlin.de) 2 I. INTRODUCTION Millimeter wave (mm-wave) frequency bands between 6 and 100 GHz have drawn significant attention for the next generation cellular communication systems [1][2], where the available bandwidths are much wider than today’s cellular allocations [3][4]. Mm-wave signals, however, suffer from increased isotropic free space loss, higher penetration loss, and pro...

    [...]

Posted Content
TL;DR: PCach as discussed by the authors is a smartphone-based approach for relieving the congestion in cellular network resulting from the exponential growth in mobile data traffic, which uses WiFi to proactively cache content on the smartphone's memory which otherwise would have been delivered through the cellular network.
Abstract: We present PCach, a smartphone-based approach for relieving the congestion in cellular network resulting from the exponential growth in mobile data traffic. The basic idea underlying PCach is simple: use WiFi to proactively cache content on the smartphone's memory, which otherwise would have been delivered through the cellular network. However, it leads to several challenging questions, including how much mobile data actually flows through cellular networks, how much data can be pre-cached, and when and what to pre-cache. We address these questions progressively using a thorough analysis of user data collected from our purpose-built crowdsensing Android application, actively utilized by 45 users for periods dating back to July 2014. Our analysis shows that the median smartphone user transfers 15% of their data via the cellular network and that 80\% of it can be pre-cached via WiFi. To capitalize on these results, we draw on a careful analysis of the measurement data to introduce an algorithm that can run stand-alone on off-the-shelf smartphones and predict with good accuracy when and what to pre-cache.

2 citations

References
More filters
Book
15 Jan 1996
TL;DR: WireWireless Communications: Principles and Practice, Second Edition is the definitive modern text for wireless communications technology and system design as discussed by the authors, which covers the fundamental issues impacting all wireless networks and reviews virtually every important new wireless standard and technological development, offering especially comprehensive coverage of the 3G systems and wireless local area networks (WLANs).
Abstract: From the Publisher: The indispensable guide to wireless communications—now fully revised and updated! Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice, Second Edition is the definitive modern text for wireless communications technology and system design. Building on his classic first edition, Theodore S. Rappaport covers the fundamental issues impacting all wireless networks and reviews virtually every important new wireless standard and technological development, offering especially comprehensive coverage of the 3G systems and wireless local area networks (WLANs) that will transform communications in the coming years. Rappaport illustrates each key concept with practical examples, thoroughly explained and solved step by step. Coverage includes: An overview of key wireless technologies: voice, data, cordless, paging, fixed and mobile broadband wireless systems, and beyond Wireless system design fundamentals: channel assignment, handoffs, trunking efficiency, interference, frequency reuse, capacity planning, large-scale fading, and more Path loss, small-scale fading, multipath, reflection, diffraction, scattering, shadowing, spatial-temporal channel modeling, and microcell/indoor propagation Modulation, equalization, diversity, channel coding, and speech coding New wireless LAN technologies: IEEE 802.11a/b, HIPERLAN, BRAN, and other alternatives New 3G air interface standards, including W-CDMA, cdma2000, GPRS, UMTS, and EDGE Bluetooth wearable computers, fixed wireless and Local Multipoint Distribution Service (LMDS), and other advanced technologies Updated glossary of abbreviations and acronyms, and a thorolist of references Dozens of new examples and end-of-chapter problems Whether you're a communications/network professional, manager, researcher, or student, Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice, Second Edition gives you an in-depth understanding of the state of the art in wireless technology—today's and tomorrow's.

17,102 citations


"Millimeter-Wave Cellular Wireless N..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Also, the human body and many outdoor materials being very reflective, allow them to be important scatterers for mmW propagation [28], [30]....

    [...]

  • ...However, these measurements were performed in an outdoor campus setting with much lower building density and greater opportunities for LOS connectivity than would be found in a typical urban deployment....

    [...]

  • ...Despite the potential of mmW cellular systems, there are a number of key challenges to realizing the vision of cellular networks in these bands: • Range and directional communication: Friis’ transmis- sion law [54] states that the free space omnidirectional path loss grows with the square of the…...

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The motivation for new mm-wave cellular systems, methodology, and hardware for measurements are presented and a variety of measurement results are offered that show 28 and 38 GHz frequencies can be used when employing steerable directional antennas at base stations and mobile devices.
Abstract: The global bandwidth shortage facing wireless carriers has motivated the exploration of the underutilized millimeter wave (mm-wave) frequency spectrum for future broadband cellular communication networks. There is, however, little knowledge about cellular mm-wave propagation in densely populated indoor and outdoor environments. Obtaining this information is vital for the design and operation of future fifth generation cellular networks that use the mm-wave spectrum. In this paper, we present the motivation for new mm-wave cellular systems, methodology, and hardware for measurements and offer a variety of measurement results that show 28 and 38 GHz frequencies can be used when employing steerable directional antennas at base stations and mobile devices.

6,708 citations


"Millimeter-Wave Cellular Wireless N..." refers background or methods in this paper

  • ...In both 28- and 73-GHz measurements, each point was classified as either being in a NLOS or LOS situation, based on a manual classification made at the time of the measurements; see [26] and [28]–[33]....

    [...]

  • ...• Empirical NYC: These curves are based on the omnidirectional path loss predicted by our linear model (1) for the mmW channel with the parameters from Table 1, as derived from the directional measurements in [26]....

    [...]

  • ...Details of the measurements can be found in [26], [28]– [33], [81]....

    [...]

  • ...This tremendous potential has led to considerable recent interest in mmW cellular both in industry [7]–[9], [18], [19] and academia [20]–[26], with a growing belief that mmW bands will play a significant role in beyond 4G and 5G cellular systems [27]....

    [...]

  • ...In particular, we survey our own measurements [26], [28]–[33] made in New York City (NYC) in both 28- and 73-GHz bands and the statistical models for the channels developed in [34]....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The gains in multiuser systems are even more impressive, because such systems offer the possibility to transmit simultaneously to several users and the flexibility to select what users to schedule for reception at any given point in time.
Abstract: Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology is maturing and is being incorporated into emerging wireless broadband standards like long-term evolution (LTE) [1]. For example, the LTE standard allows for up to eight antenna ports at the base station. Basically, the more antennas the transmitter/receiver is equipped with, and the more degrees of freedom that the propagation channel can provide, the better the performance in terms of data rate or link reliability. More precisely, on a quasi static channel where a code word spans across only one time and frequency coherence interval, the reliability of a point-to-point MIMO link scales according to Prob(link outage) ` SNR-ntnr where nt and nr are the numbers of transmit and receive antennas, respectively, and signal-to-noise ratio is denoted by SNR. On a channel that varies rapidly as a function of time and frequency, and where circumstances permit coding across many channel coherence intervals, the achievable rate scales as min(nt, nr) log(1 + SNR). The gains in multiuser systems are even more impressive, because such systems offer the possibility to transmit simultaneously to several users and the flexibility to select what users to schedule for reception at any given point in time [2].

5,158 citations


"Millimeter-Wave Cellular Wireless N..." refers background in this paper

  • ...These multiple antenna systems can be used to form very high gain, electrically steerable arrays, fabricated at the base station (BS), in the skin of a cellphone, or even within a chip [6], [10]–[17]....

    [...]

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe five technologies that could lead to both architectural and component disruptive design changes: device-centric architectures, millimeter wave, massive MIMO, smarter devices, and native support for machine-to-machine communications.
Abstract: New research directions will lead to fundamental changes in the design of future fifth generation (5G) cellular networks. This article describes five technologies that could lead to both architectural and component disruptive design changes: device-centric architectures, millimeter wave, massive MIMO, smarter devices, and native support for machine-to-machine communications. The key ideas for each technology are described, along with their potential impact on 5G and the research challenges that remain.

3,711 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The technical and business arguments for femtocells are overview and the state of the art on each front is described and the technical challenges facing femtocell networks are described and some preliminary ideas for how to overcome them are given.
Abstract: The surest way to increase the system capacity of a wireless link is by getting the transmitter and receiver closer to each other, which creates the dual benefits of higher-quality links and more spatial reuse. In a network with nomadic users, this inevitably involves deploying more infrastructure, typically in the form of microcells, hot spots, distributed antennas, or relays. A less expensive alternative is the recent concept of femtocells - also called home base stations - which are data access points installed by home users to get better indoor voice and data coverage. In this article we overview the technical and business arguments for femtocells and describe the state of the art on each front. We also describe the technical challenges facing femtocell networks and give some preliminary ideas for how to overcome them.

3,298 citations


"Millimeter-Wave Cellular Wireless N..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Heterogeneous networks, or HetNets, have been one of the most active research areas in cellular standards bodies in the last five years [45], [48], [67], [68], with the main focus being intercell interference coordination and load balancing....

    [...]