Heterogeneous Radio Access Technologies Research Articles

Energy-Efficient Resource Allocation for Heterogeneous SWIPT-NOMA Systems

Non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) and simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) have emerged as two promising techniques to achieve high spectrum efficiency and energy efficiency, respectively. This paper introduces an energy-efficient resource allocation algorithm for heterogeneous SWIPT-NOMA systems. Considering the minimum rate requirements of users, energy harvesting, and transmission power of heterogeneous radio access technologies, we present a hybrid resource allocation framework for maximizing energy efficiency performance jointly with power and time scheduling management. Due to the non-linear and non-convex issues, we utilize Dinkelbach and Lagrangian Duality theory to obtain the global optimal solution. Simulation results show that the proposed energy-efficiency resource allocation algorithm can improve the energy efficiency performance compared with the other existing schemes.

Remote health monitoring system using heterogeneous networks.

This paper presents the implementation of a remote health monitoring system by using Heterogeneous Networks (HetNet), in which remote patients' vital data can be sent to the proximate hospital with very low end‐to‐end latency. To carry out the aforementioned process, patients' statistics are delivered initially from Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) to the patients' mobile phone by using ISM band. Then, from there, contemporary networks make use of single wireless network alone to send the patients' data to the nearest hospital (even though there are multiple networks in a terrain). But, this particular network may have so much of end‐to‐end latency as a consequence of lack of resources in the network. However, in the proposed work, all the available heterogeneous Radio Access Technology (RAT) networks carry multiple patients' statistics to the nearest hospital by using either the RAT's free channels (in licensed band) or white space channels. Further, in order to reduce the latency in the proposed system, a novel hand‐off method is suggested in this paper by exploiting SDR features. Moreover, simulation results reveal the effectiveness of the proposed system in terms of end‐to‐end latency and spectral efficiency.

A novel proactive controller deployment protocol for 5G-enabled software-defined Vehicular Networks

With the vast expansion of data loads across numerous safety and infotainment applications, the software-defined paradigm has become a critical component for 5G-enabled and intelligent vehicular networks. By transforming the network’s rigid hardware devices into programmable units, SDVN offers a broad view of the entire network status and a standard interface between heterogeneous wireless access technologies. However, deploying a centralized control unit carries several problems, such as bottleneck issues and densification issues. A distributed control plane is a potential alternative to a centralized control plane. Still, it poses many questions about the optimal location of local control units and the number of control units required for a given network structure. In this article, we propose an efficient proactive controller deployment and assignment strategy for distributed 5G-enabled software-defined Vehicular Networks based on predictive vehicles’ traffic flow information and communication delays between switch-enabled roadside units. A thorough performance evaluation is conducted under different vehicular network’s mobility scenarios. We assess the performance of the proposed method in terms of communication latency and load on the subsequent control units and their assigned set of switches. The proposed proactive clustering method is compared to different forms of controller placement methods. The results showed that the proposed approach reduced the network’s communication delays while maintaining a balanced distributed load among controllers over the simulation time.

Coordinated Allocation of Radio Resources to Wi-Fi and Cellular Technologies in Shared Unlicensed Frequencies

Wireless connectivity is essential for industrial production processes and workflow management. Moreover, the connectivity requirements of industrial devices, which are usually long-term investments, are diverse and require different radio interfaces. In this regard, the 3GPP has studied how to support heterogeneous radio access technologies (RATs) such as Wi-Fi and unlicensed cellular technologies in 5G core networks. In some cases, these technologies coexist in the same spectrum. Dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS), which has already been proven to increase spectrum efficiency in licensed bands, can also be applied to this scenario. In this paper, we propose two solutions for mobile network operators (MNOs) or service providers to dynamically divide (multiplex) the radio resources of a shared channel between a Wi-Fi basic service set (BSS) and one or several carriers of scheduled wireless networks, such as cellular technologies, with a configurable level of sharing granularity. These solutions do not require modifications to the current commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) end devices. We adapt the existing IEEE 802.11 procedures to notify the Wi-Fi stations that they must share channels with different access networks. We demonstrate that our dynamic sharing proposals are also advantageous over direct coexistence and evaluate each of them quantitatively and qualitatively to determine when one or the other is preferable. The evaluation is particularized for IEEE 802.11ac and long-term evolution (LTE) license assisted access (LAA), but the solutions can be easily extended to 5G new radio-unlicensed (5G NR-U) or to any other wireless technology in which the network side schedules end device transmissions.

ADVICE-LOC: An adaptive vehicle-centric location management scheme for intelligent connected cars

With the recent advances and wide availability of heterogeneous wireless access technologies, inter-vehicle communication systems are expected to culminate in the integration of different wireless networks based on such standards as 5G/6G, coupling with multimedia and sensor networks for the next generation of connected and autonomous vehicles. However, the high mobility nature of vehicles poses intrinsic research challenges on the mobility management and the integration of different wireless technologies. Towards this end, in this paper, we propose an ADaptive VehIcle-CEntric LOCation management protocol (ADVICE-LOC) that utilizes the individual mobility projection of each vehicle and estimates the vehicles’ residual time within each access point. Its ultimate objective is to eliminate the network communication’s overhead, while guaranteeing a high packet delivery ratio and low latency rates. The proposed protocol preemptively adjusts the vehicles’ access registration and location updates based on its movement projections. We present our protocol, and we report on its performance evaluation using an extensive set of experiments using SUMO generated vehicles’ mobility. Our results indicate that the proposed DEVICE-LOC protocol succeed significantly in reducing the communication overhead while sustaining high packet delivery ratio when compared to previous studies.

End-to-End Latency Evaluation of the Sat5G Network Based on Stochastic Network Calculus

Simultaneous use of heterogeneous radio access technologies to increase the performance of real-time, reliability and capacity is an inherent feature of satellite-5G integrated network (Sat5G). However, there is still a l... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on Tech Science Press

Vertical Handover Analysis Using Modified MADM Method in LTE

Ubiquitous Communication is being a trend in this era. It is possible anywhere anytime with the sustenance and by the agreement of different service providers of Mobile technology. A mobile node which is attached to its base station relinquishes its connection while continuous mobility causes a fluctuation of signal strength. To overcome this issue, heterogeneous networks provision is obligatory. Normally Base stations serve several mobile nodes. Whenever a base station cannot handle a mobile terminal, it will assign its node to nearby available base station for service. The process of assignment of mobile nodes to another base station is termed as Heterogeneous handover. This type of Handover is needed for seamless integration of networks. LTE has proved promising outcomes in providing successful handover, Since it uses eNodeB infrastructure. In this work, Received signal strength is taken as main measure and analysed. Received Power acts as the building block for making possible handover across heterogeneous Radio Access Technologies. Proposed method suggests a vertical handover based on various signal measures. Enhanced Weighted Sum Method is incorporated for Handover decision making. Several criteria also utilized.

An Experimental Study on Multipath TCP Congestion Control With Heterogeneous Radio Access Technologies

In the near future, a large volume of the data traversing wireless networks will not only be requested and/or reported by humans but also by machines (e.g., the Internet-of-things and machine-to-machine applications). This mandates the availability of enormous radio spectrum resources and an end-to-end reliable information transfer. Currently, many wireless devices are equipped with two wireless interfaces with heterogeneous radio access technologies. Thus, the usage of a transport layer designed for multi-homed devices such as multipath transmission control protocol (MPTCP) is inevitable. This paper presents an experimental performance study of three congestion control algorithms, which can be used by MPTCP, namely, Cubic, linked-increases algorithm (LIA), and opportunistic LIA (OLIA). The testbed comprises real (not simulated) LTE and WiFi networks that are used to connect dual-homed wireless nodes to one another. We comparatively study the throughput performance of the three algorithms under varying factors, including the receiver buffer size, number of parallel connections, data volume, and flow lifetime. Our key findings reveal that, although Cubic is not designed with multipath in mind, it outperforms the multipath-based LIA and OLIA, whenever the LTE per-node capacity is higher than its WiFi counterpart. Also, in a reversed situation (WiFi per-node capacity is higher) Cubic outperforms OLIA and LIA for short-lived flows.

Internet of vehicles in big data era

As the rapid development of automotive telematics, modern vehicles are expected to be connected through heterogeneous radio access technologies and are able to exchange massive information with their surrounding environment. By significantly expanding the network scale and conducting both real time and long term information processing, the traditional Vehicular Ad- Hoc Networks U+0028 VANETs U+0029 are evolving to the Internet of Vehicles U+0028 IoV U+0029, which promises efficient and intelligent prospect for the future transportation system. On the other hand, vehicles are not only consuming but also generating a huge amount and enormous types of data, which are referred to as Big Data. In this article, we first investigate the relationship between IoV and big data in vehicular environment, mainly on how IoV supports the transmission, storage, computing of the big data, and in return how IoV benefits from big data in terms of IoV characterization, performance evaluation and big data assisted communication protocol design. We then investigate the application of IoV big data for autonomous vehicles. Finally the emerging issues of the big data enabled IoV are discussed.

Cross layer architecture with integrated MIH in heterogeneous wireless networks

Progress in new radio technologies and raise in users’ demands are motivating the deployment of a wide array of wireless networks, ranging from Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), to fifth generation (5G). These heterogeneous Radio Access Technologies (RATs) are expected to be integrated together to provide mobile users QoS guarantees. Heterogeneous Wireless Networks (HWNs) provide an opportunity for developers to design efficient framework to satisfy stringent QoS requirement. This integration of different networks results in performance degradation when handovers occur during a mobility event. As a result, the effective mobility management protocols are required to support ubiquitous network access by providing seamless handover. In IEEE 802.21 standard, the framework Media Independent Handover (MIH) is proposed to facilitate handover in heterogeneous networks with measurements and triggers from link layers. This article emphasizes in relationship between the MIH framework and different modules in the MAC layer. In order to guarantee the QoS for different service flows with diverse QoS requirements, we propose to design new cross-layer based designs architecture to provide a combined solution for vertical and horizontal handover based on IEEE 802.21 MIH. We propose new modules in different layers and new primitives to facilitate the communication. Conducted simulations demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approaches. We evaluate the proposed architecture using a scheduling algorithm which improves system performance as shown by the results presented of a comparative analysis with the NSA (New Scheduling Algorithm) and EDF (Earliest Deadline First) schemes.

An Optimal Joint User Association and Power Allocation Algorithm for Secrecy Information Transmission in Heterogeneous Networks

In recent years, heterogeneous radio access technologies have experienced rapid development and gradually achieved effective coordination and integration, resulting in heterogeneous networks (HetNets). In this paper, we consider the downlink secure transmission of HetNets where the information transmission from base stations (BSs) to legitimate users is subject to the interception of eavesdroppers. In particular, we stress the problem of joint user association and power allocation of the BSs. To achieve data transmission in a secure and energy efficient manner, we introduce the concept of secrecy energy efficiency which is defined as the ratio of the secrecy transmission rate and power consumption of the BSs and formulate the problem of joint user association and power allocation as an optimization problem which maximizes the joint secrecy energy efficiency of all the BSs under the power constraint of the BSs and the minimum data rate constraint of user equipment (UE). By equivalently transforming the optimization problem into two subproblems, that is, power allocation subproblem and user association subproblem of the BSs, and applying iterative method and Kuhn-Munkres (K-M) algorithm to solve the two subproblems, respectively, the optimal user association and power allocation strategies can be obtained. Numerical results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms previously proposed algorithms.

Magnet: Real-Time Trace Stream Analytics Framework for 5G Operations Support Systems

The era of petabyte data has arrived as the digital big data universe continues its expansion toward exascale with massive volumes of data generated by diverse distributed sources. The size of big data makes it very difficult to gain insight into the meaning of data. In industrial applications, in order to explore both the meaning of data and the complex relationship between data components, big data needs to be processed and reduced enabling further deeper analysis in a timely manner. In this article an integrated data analytics framework is presented designed to extract the set of instances exhibiting statistical dependency from the massive volume of data in a pre-defined quasi real-time manner. The parallel computing model of MapReduce is enhanced to realize Magnet. The solution presented in this article is applicable to the telecommunications market where it optimizes next-generation network management systems for heterogeneous radio access technologies.

Context-Aware Radio Access Technology Selection in 5G Ultra Dense Networks

Ultra dense network (UDN) is the extreme densification of heterogeneous radio access technologies (RATs) that are deployed closely in a coordinated or uncoordinated manner. The densification of RATs forms an overlapping zone of signal coverage, leading user equipment (UE) to frequent signal handovers among the available RATs. Consequently, this degrades the overall system performance. The traditional approach of RAT selection is network-centric and the decision is primarily focused on the signal aspect. However, the next generation of digital wave is a paradigm shift to being user-centric. In this paper, a context-aware multi-attribute RAT (CMRAT) selection approach is proposed to eliminate unnecessary handover of UE among RATs and determine the best RAT as the next point of attachment among the available ones in the UDN. CMRAT integrates the context-aware concept with multi-attribute decision making (MADM) theory in RAT selection. CMRAT is formed with two mechanisms, including, first, a context-aware analytical hierarchy process mechanism to prioritize the criteria for obtaining the weight. Then, a context-aware technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution mechanism is employed to choose the best RAT amongst the available RATs. The proposed CMRAT mechanism was implemented and validated using MATLAB. The obtained simulation findings demonstrate that the proposed CMRAT approach outperforms classic MADM methods, namely TOPSIS, SAW, and GRA with respect to the number of handovers and ranking abnormality metrics. Hence, this paper paves the way to choose RAT based on context information comprising network and user preference criteria information.

Mobility-Aware Performance Evaluation of Heterogeneous Wireless Networks With Traffic Offloading

Traffic offloading among coexisting heterogeneous radio access technologies (RATs), i.e., inter-RAT offloading, is considered to be an effective strategy for enhancing the capacity of wireless networks and reducing the power consumption of both base stations (BSs) and mobile stations (MSs). To fully utilize inter-RAT offloading advantages, a mobility-aware evaluation is needed, which takes into account the combined effects of mobility and MS and BS spatial distributions on the performance gains. This paper proposes a novel analytical model that accurately describes MS mobility dynamics in heterogeneous wireless networks, while conveying detailed information on its location. In addition, this paper derives an analytical expression for calculating the packet loss probability for orthogonal-frequency-division-multiple-access (OFDMA)-based networks. Taking users' mobility and spatial distribution into account, this paper develops a Markovian-based framework for evaluating inter-RAT offloading performance. The accuracy of the proposed mobility model and the efficacy of the proposed performance evaluation framework are validated. Results show that MS mobility and vertical handover (VHO) cost significantly affect inter-RAT offloading performance, and ignoring their effects could lead to an inaccurate evaluation. When the effects of MS mobility and VHO cost on the performance are ignored, utilizing inter-RAT offloading decreases the packet loss probability by 9% and saves energy by 6%. However, accounting for these effects results in a 32% increase in the packet loss probability evaluation and a 64% increase in the energy consumption evaluation.

Towards user-centric operation in 5G networks

There are three pillars that characterize the new 5G revolution, namely, the use of heterogeneous wireless access technologies conforming an ultra-dense network, the software-driven flexibility of this network, and the simplified and user-centric operation and management of the system. This next-generation network operation and management shall be based on the usage of Big Data Analytics techniques to monitor the end-user quality of experience through direct measures of the network. This paper describes the Astellia approach towards this network revolution and presents some results on the performance of quality estimation techniques in current cellular networks. Thanks to the use of this approach, operators may fill the gap of knowledge between network key performance indicators and user experience. This way, they can operate in a proactive manner and have actual measurements of the users’ experience, which leads to a fairer judgement of the users’ complaints.

A multi-channel MAC protocol with power control in the distributed cognitive radio networks

In this paper, cognitive radio networks CRNs are proposed based on computer network technology, electronic communication technology, control theory of scarce spectrum resources and various heterogeneous wireless access technologies. The nodes in the proposed CRNs are capable of adjusting their radio parameters intelligently and dynamically by sensing, analysing, reasoning and deciding the past and current situations of the networks, so that the CRNs can solve the problems of spectrum scarcity and heterogeneous network effectively. On this basis, the multi-channel medium access control MAC protocol in the CRNs is analysed and a multi-channel MAC protocol with power control DCRMAC-PC is suggested for multi-hop mobile ad hoc networks. The simulation results show that the proposed protocol performs well in data transfer process.

S-TFRC: An efficient rate control scheme for multimedia handovers

The integration of heterogeneous wireless access technologies has numerous issues for multimedia applications, such as to smoothly continue over new connections without any service disruption during vertical handovers. We propose State-Aware Feedback extension to Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) that meets QoS requirements of multimedia applications throughout the handover process. We consider movement of mobile subscribers among heterogeneous access technologies from highly unstable to more stable environment and model their mobility patterns as Uniform, Pareto, and Exponentially distributed. We present detailed analysis on the performance of proposed mechanism in terms of resuming transmissions during the handover process. In particular, we propose Markov model of TFRC capturing TCP timeouts, loss rates, and no-feedback timer expirations. We validate the proposed analytical model through simulations and show that it accurately predicts various congestion events that may happen during the handover process. We then evaluate the performance of S-TFRC via both simulations and analytical model and observe the sender rates and throughputs achieved. We also consider transmission delays and transmission rates as performance metrics and compare performance of S-TFRC with the standard TFRC. Our results show that S-TFRC is capable of providing better QoS to multimedia applications than standard TFRC by significantly reducing transmission delays and provides better throughput to multimedia applications.

Performance evaluation of softer vertical handovers in multiuser heterogeneous wireless networks

In the future fifth generation (5G) networked society, devices will integrate heterogeneous radio access technologies (RATs) to improve the network performance and the user quality of experience. In this paper, we focus on softer vertical handover (SRVH), discussing its feasibility and its performance in a multiuser scenario. Specifically, a new taxonomy for vertical handovers is proposed to resolve ambiguities in current terminology and technical issues related to SRVH implementation are discussed. Then, a simple but accurate analytical model is proposed to evaluate the performance of SRVH and results are provided with reference to best effort services in the presence of two RATs. Two case studies are considered, a mobile controlled approach with uncoordinated RATs and a network controlled approach with coordination among RATs. Results demonstrate that SRVHs are useful to allow finer granularity in resource allocation when there is coordination among RATs, although they fail to provide throughput improvements if they are selfishly performed by mobile terminals.

Wireless Coexistence and Spectrum Sensing in Industrial Internet of Things: An Experimental Study

The adoption of dense wireless sensor networks in industrial plants is mandatorily paired with the development of methods and tools for connectivity prediction. These are needed to certify the quality (or reliability) of the network information flow in industrial scenarios which are typically characterized by harsh propagation conditions. Connectivity prediction must account for the possible coexistence of heterogeneous radio-access technologies, as part of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) paradigm, and easily allow postlayout validation steps. The goal of this paper is to provide a practical evaluation of relevant coexistence problems that may occur between industrial networks employing standards such as WirelessHART IEC 62591, IEEE 802.15.4, and IEEE 802.11. A number of coexistence scenarios are experimentally tested using different radio platforms. For each case, experimental results are analyzed to assess tolerable interference levels and sensitivity thresholds for different configurations of channel overlapping. Finally, the problem of over-the-air spectrum sensing is investigated in real scenarios with heterogeneous industrial networks to enable a cognitive resource allocation that avoids intolerable interference conditions.

On the impact of mobile node radio architectures on heterogeneous wireless network standards: A performance analysis of LTE–eHRPD mobility

With the availability of various heterogeneous radio access technology standards, how to support multiple heterogeneous radio interfaces in a single device and provide seamless mobility between them is one of key issues in the design and implementation of modern multi-radio mobile devices (like smartphones). The radio architectures of such multi-radio mobile devices can have great impacts on achievable mobility performance. This paper presents a case study that investigates into the impacts of radio architecture design on mobility performance achievable in wireless standard implementation, with a particular focus on heterogeneous radio access mobility between Long Term Evolution (LTE) and enhanced High Rate Packet Data (eHRPD). We present an in-depth overview of handover procedures in standards and their achievable performance enhancements from the perspective of device radio architectures. We consider three radio architectures (single transmission/reception, single transmission dual reception, and dual transmission/reception architectures) and provide a performance analysis to compare the three architectures in terms of handover delay and energy consumption. We also discuss supportability for advanced flow-precision mobility under the different radio architectures, and present a comparison with another vertical handover technology.