Athul Prasad

Enhanced 3GPP system for Machine Type Communications and Internet of Things

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has been working on developing specifications on Machine Type Communications (MTC), also known as Machine to Machine Communications (M2M), which is all part of Internet of Things (IoT), a technology that enables machines and devices to be inter-connected via the internet. This paper presents recent M2M/IoT feature enhancements in 3GPP. These features include architectural enhancements for inclusion of a service exposure framework, group based IoT management, efficient monitoring mechanisms for IoT devices, optimization of IoT device power consumption, and high latency communications. These M2M/IoT related functionalities and enhancements are a continuing effort within 3GPP to make the mobile network fulfil the ever changing M2M/IoT requirements, and in so doing allow operators/service providers to offer unique services.

Agile resource management for 5G: A METIS-II perspective

An explosive growth in the demand for higher data rates and capacity along with diverse requirements set by massive and ultra-reliable machine-type communications are the main drivers behind the development on new access technologies as part of the fifth generation (5G) networks. Currently, different air interface (AIF) and/or AIF variants, optimized based on the frequency band of operation and use case, are envisioned for such a network. Developing an agile resource management framework for 5G networks is one of the main goals of the METIS-II project. The METIS-II project builds strongly upon the EU flagship project METIS, which has laid the foundation of 5G. This framework will take into account the multi-link and multi-layer constraints currently envisioned for 5G. In this paper, we provide our first insights into agile resource management and the associated synchronous control functions. We will discuss the essential building blocks in terms of technology enablers and their mapping to 5G services and deployments. The introduced agile resource management framework for 5G is expected to enable enhanced interference management, dynamic traffic steering, fast radio access network (RAN) moderation, efficient context management, and optimized integration with legacy networks.

Network assisted small cell discovery in multi-layer and mmWave networks

With the exponentially increasing capacity demands anticipated in next generation wireless networks, densifying the network using cmW and mmW small cells supporting high bandwidths is seen to be the trend in 5G networks. Such ultra-dense deployment of cells would also lead to a higher amount of power consumption, from the UE and network perspective, due to the increased measurement requirements and higher number of nodes, which consume more power. In this paper, we consider a dense heterogeneous small cell network, where mechanisms are proposed to enable UE power consumption optimizations by conducting inter-frequency measurement when the probability of connecting to a mmW cell is high. Network power consumption is optimized by activating the mmW layer only when there are UEs in the proximity. Based on the performance evaluations done on the proposed mechanism, significant power savings both from UE and network perspective are observed.

Efficient mobility and traffic management for delay tolerant cloud data in 5G networks

The explosive growth of the demand for higher data rates in mobile networks have been mainly driven by the increasing use of cloud based applications by smartphones. This has led the industry to investigate new radio access technologies to be deployed as part of 5G networks, while providing mechanisms to manage user mobility and traffic in a more efficient manner. In this paper, we consider a mobility and traffic management mechanism that proposes a close interaction between the cloud data servers and the radio access network to enable efficient network operation. Such a management mechanism is enabled by utilizing the application-dependent delay tolerance properties of the cloud data, with the delay values conveyed to the radio access network and UE to manage the service requests for the cloud data. The mechanism was evaluated using LTE-Advanced heterogeneous network scenario and 5G dense-urban information society scenario from EU FP7 METIS project, and relative gains in terms of packet delays and throughput values are presented. The results indicate significant gains using the proposed management mechanism as compared to the reference case where no such enhancements are used.

Overview of uplink control channel for carrier aggregation enhancements in LTE Rel. 13

Frequency Spectrum is a non-renewable limited radio resource and therefore every effort has been made to efficiently utilize the spectrum. In LTE Release 10, 3GPP introduced carrier aggregation as a key enabler to meet the requirements set by IMT-Advanced by combining component carriers and have an aggregated bandwidth of up to 100 MHz. Further enhancements in LTE Rel. 11 and 12 have been introduced to support several configurations in time-division duplex and frequency-division duplex. Latest developments involve expanding carrier aggregation up to 32 component carriers in LTE Rel. 13. This would have challenging implications on the current control signaling support both in the downlink and uplink. In this paper, we identify the payload for uplink control information on physical uplink control channel to support carrier aggregation enhancements, analyze the limitations of existing formats and propose a simplified yet effective solution to provide reasonable support for transmitting uplink control information with larger payload.

Optimisations in machine type communications for sensor data networking

Currently, many sensor data networks are managed using machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine type communications (MTCs) technologies. One of the key factors for the success of sensor data networks is in developments of international M2M/MTC standards. As third generation partnership project (3GPP) and oneM2M are actively working on standardising M2M/MTC specifications for 3GPP core networks and M2M common service layer, this study reviews the ongoing activities in 3GPP and oneM2M standardisation bodies, in the area of machine type or M2M communications, focusing on enhancing device, service platform, and mobile network technologies that can be useful in achieving cost efficiencies in sensor data networks.