Medium-Transparent MAC Research Articles

A QoS-Enabled Medium-Transparent MAC Protocol for Fiber-Wireless 5G RAN Transport Networks

In order to meet the ever-increasing 5G and beyond Radio Access Network (RAN) densification demands, Fiber-Wireless transport networks are expected to play a key role in accelerating 5G deployment by providing the essential RAN flexibility, while at the same time avoiding costly fiber-trenching. Due to the inefficiency of the Radio-and-Fiber (R&F) networks for application in dense RAN topologies, Analog-Radio-over-Fiber (A-RoF) technology is regarded as a key enabling solution, since it greatly simplifies the remote antenna while offering very high spectral efficiency. For this type of dense A-RoF network, new and efficient Medium-Transparent-Medium Access Control (MT-MAC) protocols are required that can concurrently arbitrate optical and wireless resources, while at the same time offering the necessary Quality-of-Service (QoS) for correct operation of the combined Fronthaul/Midhaul/Backhaul segments present in 5G disaggregated RANs. In this paper, we propose a QoS-enabled MT-MAC (qMT-MAC) protocol that can combine Fronthaul/Midhaul/Backhaul flows under the same framework, while satisfying the strict delay and jitter requirements set by the relevant standards. Results show that qMT-MAC concurrently achieves the delay and jitter requirements for combined Fronthaul/Midhaul/Backhaul traffic even when loads approach the network’s capacity, while attested enhanced prioritization policies can offer up to a 64% delay reduction over State-of-the-Art MT-MAC protocols.

A Gated Service MAC Protocol for Sub-Ms Latency 5G Fiber-Wireless mmWave C-RANs

In order to meet the ever-increasing traffic demands, the combination of fiber and Millimeter Wave (mmWave) is expected to play a key role for 5G Centralized-Radio Access Networks (C-RANs). Due to the inefficiency of the Common Public Radio Interface for the Baseband Unit (BBU)-Remote Radio Head (RRH) communication, analog-Radio-over-Fiber (a-RoF) technology is considered a promising solution, mainly due to the RRH simplification and lower fronthaul requirements it imposes. In such mmWave a-RoF C-RANs, efficient Medium Transparent-Medium Access Control (MT-MAC) protocols are needed able to meet the challenging 5G requirements. To this end, in this paper, we propose a gated service MT-MAC protocol which authorizes each user to transmit the amount of data it requested. A detailed delay model is proposed, which is validated through simulations for different fiber lengths, network load conditions and number of available optical wavelengths. Moreover, the proposed protocol is compared with the state-of-the-art (SoA) and is shown to achieve up to 20 times higher throughput, 2 times lower delay with 100% lower blocking probability and 5 times higher data wavelength utilization, while being able to adapt to varying network traffic conditions. Our proposal also attains sub-ms latency in most cases, constituting it a promising candidate for 5G mmWave a-RoF C-RANs.

Non-Saturation Delay Analysis of Medium Transparent MAC Protocol for 60 GHz Fiber-Wireless Towards 5G mmWave Networks

In this paper, we demonstrate an analytical model for computing the end-to-end packet delay of a converged optical/wireless 60 GHz Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) network operating under the medium-transparent MAC (MT-MAC) protocol. For the calculation of the cycle times, this model considers the protocol time consumed for contention and data exchange over both optical and wireless media, a feature of the MT-MAC that effectively enables it to provide direct and seamless interaction between the RoF Central Office and the end users. This new analytical model enables us to conduct an extensive delay performance analysis of the various performance aspects of hybrid RoF networks operating under the fixed service paradigm, such as various optical capacity availability scenarios, varying load conditions, optical network ranges, transmission window lengths, and data packet sizes. The derived theoretical results present an excellent match with the respective simulation findings, providing sub millisecond latency values for a plethora of network conditions, confirming that the MT-MAC scheme can effectively be incorporated into the upcoming mm-wave 5G era.

Network Planning for 80211ad and MT-MAC 60 GHz Fiber-Wireless Gigabit Wireless Local Area Networks Over Passive Optical Networks

We present a study concerning the network planning of 60 GHz gigabit wireless local area networks (WLANs) over existing passive optical network (PON) infrastructures. Two fiber-wireless configurations for gigabit WLAN network formations are investigated: i) the Radio & Fiber (RF and ii) the Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) paradigm that employs several remote access units operating under the medium-transparent MAC (MT-MAC) protocol, hence termed as the MT-MACover- PON approach. Simulation-based throughput and delay results are obtained for both network scenarios, revealing the dependence of the 60 GHz enterprise network performance on several network-planning parameters such as load, traffic shape, number of optical wavelengths in the backhaul, and optical backhaul fiber length, highlighting in each case the prevailing architecture. Based on the respective findings we also study a hybrid multitier architecture, termed the GPON-plus-MT-MAC approach, that fuses the abilities of both the RoF and R&F architectures in order to optimally combine their properties and set a framework for next-generation 60 Ghz fiber-wireless networks.

Client-Weighted Medium-Transparent MAC Protocol for User-Centric Fairness in 60 GHz Radio-Over-Fiber WLANs

We present a novel client-weighted medium-transparent medium access control (CW-MT-MAC) protocol with enhanced fairness service delivery properties accompanied by a low-loss remote access unit (RAU) architecture for use in indoor, Gbps-capable, 60 GHz radio-over-fiber (RoF) wireless local area networks (WLANs). Our approach relies on incorporating a client-weighted algorithm (CWA) in the optical capacity allocation mechanism employed in the MT-MAC scheme, so as to distribute the available wavelengths to the different antenna units according to the total number of active users served by each individual antenna. The protocol’s throughput and delay fairness characteristics are evaluated and validated through both simulations and analytic modeling for saturated network traffic operational conditions. In addition, extended simulation-based performance analysis for nonsaturated network conditions and for different end-user distributions, traffic loads, and available optical wavelengths at 1 Gbps data rates is presented. Our results confirm that complete throughput equalization can be achieved even for highly varying user population patterns when certain wavelength availability conditions are satisfied. At the same time, the presented scheme manages to equalize the average packet delays amongst packets generated by all RAUs while concurrently dropping the packet delay variation metric that is essential for quality of service delivery. Finally the proposed RAU design reduces insertion losses by almost 14 dB compared to RAU elements used in MT-MAC-compatible bus networks, extending in this way the number of supported RAUs by an order of magnitude and enabling the formation of extended-reach, high-speed RoF WLANs.

Multichannel Resource Allocation Mechanism for 60 GHz Radio-Over-Fiber Local Access Networks

We present a flexible multichannel resource allocation mechanism for 60 GHz radio-over-fiber local access networks. The proposed mechanism is based on the structure of medium-transparent MAC, which is capable of allocating capacity dynamically over both optical and wireless media. A frequency band dedicated to the control channel is assigned to reduce the negative effects of the fiber delay in the high-speed 60 GHz radio-over-fiber system. Moreover, multiple channels are used to transmit data for end users according to their requirements.

Saturation Throughput Performance Analysis of a Medium Transparent MAC Protocol for 60 GHz Radio-Over-Fiber Networks

We demonstrate an analytical model for calculating the saturation throughput performance of a medium transparent medium access control (MAC) protocol in 60 GHz radio-over-fiber (RoF) networks. The proposed model incorporates effectively the medium transparent MAC mechanism, assuming a finite number of terminals and ideal channel conditions. It takes into account contention both at the optical and wireless layer, ensuring seamless and dynamic capacity allocation over both transmission media. This model enables extensive saturation throughput performance analysis for the medium transparent MAC and has been applied to 60 GHz RoF network scenarios considering variable numbers of available optical wavelengths, wireless nodes and serving antenna elements and for two different data rate values, namely 155 Mbps and 1 Gbps. Comparison between the model-based throughput results and respective simulation-based outcomes reveals that our model is extremely accurate in predicting the system throughput. Moreover, it confirms that the proposed medium transparent MAC protocol can effectively operate in high-speed 60 GHz RoF LAN environments.

An Agile and Medium-Transparent MAC Protocol for 60 GHz Radio-Over-Fiber Local Access Networks

We present an agile and medium-transparent Medium Access Control (MT-MAC) protocol for seamless and dynamic capacity allocation over both optical and wireless transmission media in 60 GHz broadband Radio-Over-Fiber (RoF) networks. Medium transparency is achieved by means of parallelism between two simultaneously running contention periods and through nesting of wireless user-specific dataframes within Remote Antenna Unit (RAU)-specific optical Superframes. The first contention period reports on the traffic requesting RAUs and decides about the wavelength assignments, whereas the second contention period arbitrates traffic between wireless clients served by the same RAU. Seamless service delivery is completed by RAU-dedicated optical Superframes, each one incorporating multiple user-specific and time-division multiplexed dataframes that are opto-electronically converted at the RAU site and get transmitted wirelessly down to each end-user. The proposed MAC protocol is demonstrated to operate successfully both in RoF-over-bus as well as in RoF-over-Passive Optical Network (PON) architectures requiring only minor variations for getting adapted to the network topology. Its performance for both network topologies is evaluated through simulations for different number of end-users, different loads and network node densities and for bit-rates up to 3 Gb/s, both for a Poisson and for a burst-mode traffic model. Successful operation is demonstrated for all different cases, confirming its agility and showing that extended range 60 GHz LAN areas between wireless users even without line of sight conditions can be obtained. Moreover, the high throughput and low latency values for non-saturated network conditions reveal its potential for transforming broadband 60 GHz picocellular networks into highly effective RoF-enabled 60 GHz Wireless LANs even for high-bandwidth and time-sensitive applications like High-Definition video streaming.