An intra–inter-cell device-to-device communication scheme to enhance 5G network throughput with delay modeling

Abstract

As the number of mobile users is growing, so is the demand for more bandwidth. It becomes important that the required bandwidth and spectral resources do not scale with traffic in the next generation of wireless networks [i.e. fifth generation (5G)]. Device-to-device (D2D) communication underlaying cellular networks has been recognized as an essential technique in 5G networks. By applying definite principles and strategies, D2D communication not only increases the spectral and energy efficiency, but also enhances network throughput, network coverage and reduces delay. In this paper, we present an intra–inter-cell D2D communication scheme to enhance throughput of 5G networks. We study call setup delay of two developed communication scenarios and throughput gain comparing three systems. Firstly, we show the enhancements required in current cellular architectures to support inter-cell D2D communication. We develop protocols for two scenarios and demonstrate how architecture entities cooperate for the call setup between D2D users. We measure the overall call setup time for the developed protocols and derive a closed-form delay formula to estimate call setup time probability. Secondly, we perform simulations using a topology similar to that found in realistic urban environments to study throughput gains of the proposed intra–inter-cell D2D communication scheme. We compare three systems in terms of throughput: (1) pure cellular system (with cellular users only), (2) pure cellular system with intra-cell D2D users sharing the same cellular resource, and (3) pure cellular system with intra–inter-cell D2D users sharing the same cellular resource. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme substantially increases the network throughput and spectrum efficiency.