Packet duplication for URLLC in 5G dual connectivity architecture

Abstract

This paper addresses the problem of satisfying the extreme requirements related to Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) in 5G Radio Access Network (RAN). Complementary to the existing Physical (PHY) layer techniques, this paper focuses primarily on higher layer solutions, particularly, on Packet Duplication (PD) as a practical and low complexity technique for URLLC. The theoretic framework behind PD is investigated and the recent enhancements made in the 5G Dual Connectivity (DC) architecture for supporting PD are discussed. For improving the radio resource utilization and to dynamically control the activation of PD, an optimization problem subject to URLLC constraints is formulated and solved heuristically to give the resource configuration in terms of MCS and PRB allocation over multiple links. Following this, it is shown numerically that performing PD in various deployment scenarios results in better utilization of radio resources compared to using a single highly reliable link while effectively satisfying the URLLC requirements.