Klaus Doppler

Device-to-device communication as an underlay to LTE-advanced networks

In this article device-to-device (D2D) communication underlaying a 3GPP LTE-Advanced cellular network is studied as an enabler of local services with limited interference impact on the primary cellular network. The approach of the study is a tight integration of D2D communication into an LTE-Advanced network. In particular, we propose mechanisms for D2D communication session setup and management involving procedures in the LTE System Architecture Evolution. Moreover, we present numerical results based on system simulations in an interference limited local area scenario. Our results show that D2D communication can increase the total throughput observed in the cell area.

Resource Sharing Optimization for Device-to-Device Communication Underlaying Cellular Networks

We consider Device-to-Device (D2D) communication underlaying cellular networks to improve local services. The system aims to optimize the throughput over the shared resources while fulfilling prioritized cellular service constraints. Optimum resource allocation and power control between the cellular and D2D connections that share the same resources are analyzed for different resource sharing modes. Optimality is discussed under practical constraints such as minimum and maximum spectral efficiency restrictions, and maximum transmit power or energy limitation. It is found that in most of the considered cases, optimum power control and resource allocation for the considered resource sharing modes can either be solved in closed form or searched from a finite set. The performance of the D2D underlay system is evaluated in both a single-cell scenario, and a Manhattan grid environment with multiple WINNER II A1 office buildings. The results show that by proper resource management, D2D communication can effectively improve the total throughput without generating harmful interference to cellular networks.

Interference-Aware Resource Allocation for Device-to-Device Radio Underlaying Cellular Networks

Future cellular networks such as IMT-Advanced are expected to allow underlaying direct Device-to-Device (D2D) communication for spectrally efficient support of e.g. rich multimedia local services. Enabling D2D links in a cellular network presents a challenge in radio resource management due to the potentially severe interference it may cause to the cellular network. We propose a practical and efficient scheme for generating local awareness of the interference between the cellular and D2D terminals at the base station, which then exploits the multiuser diversity inherent in the cellular network to minimize the interference. System simulations demonstrate that substantial gains in cellular and D2D performance can be obtained using the proposed scheme.

Device-to-Device Communication Underlaying Cellular Communications Systems

In this article we propose to facilitate local peer-to-peer communication by a Device-to-Device (D2D) radio that operates as an underlay network to an IMT-Advanced cellular network. It is expected that local services may utilize mobile peer-to-peer communication instead of central server based communication for rich multimedia services. The main challenge of the underlay radio in a multi-cell environment is to limit the interference to the cellular network while achieving a reasonable link budget for the D2D radio. We propose a novel power control mechanism for D2D connections that share cellular uplink resources. The mechanism limits the maximum D2D transmit power utilizing cellular power control information of the devices in D2D communication. Thereby it enables underlaying D2D communication even in interference-limited networks with full load and without degrading the performance of the cellular network. Secondly, we study a single cell scenario consisting of a device communicating with the base station and two devices that communicate with each other. The results demonstrate that the D2D radio, sharing the same resources as the cellular network, can provide higher capacity (sum rate) compared to pure cellular communication where all the data is transmitted through the base station.

Mode Selection for Device-To-Device Communication Underlaying an LTE-Advanced Network

Device-to-Device communication underlaying a cellular network enables local services with limited interference to the cellular network. In this paper we study the optimal selection of possible resource sharing modes with the cellular network in a single cell. Based on the learning from the single cell studies we propose a mode selection procedure for a multi-cell environment. Our evaluation results of the proposed procedure show that it enables a much more reliable device-to-device communication with limited interference to the cellular network compared to simpler mode selection procedures. A well performing and practical mode selection is critical to enable the adoption of underlay device-to-device communication in cellular networks.

Power Optimization of Device-to-Device Communication Underlaying Cellular Communication

We address resource sharing of the cellular network and a device-to-device (D2D) underlay communication assuming that the cellular network has control over the transmit power and the radio resources of D2D links. We show that by proper power control, the interference between two services can be coordinated to benefit the overall performance. In addition, we consider a scenario with prioritized cellular communication and an upper limit on the maximum transmission rate of all links. We derive the optimum power allocation for the considered resource sharing modes. The results show that cellular service can be effectively guaranteed while having a comparable sum rate with a none power control case in most of the cell area.

On the Performance of Device-to-Device Underlay Communication with Simple Power Control

We address device-to-device (D2D) communication as a potential resource reuse technique underlaying the cellular network. We consider the shared channel of the two systems as an interference channel and formulate the statistics of the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of all users. The potential performance of D2D communication is evaluated by considering a scenario where only limited interference coordination between the cellular and the D2D communication is possible. We apply a simple power control method to the D2D communication which constrains the SINR degradation of the cellular link to a certain level. Results show that the SINR statistics of the D2D users is comparable to that of the cellular user in most of the cell area. Scheduling gain is possible by properly assigning either of the downlink (DL) or the uplink (UL) resources to the D2D communication.

Device-to-Device Communications; Functional Prospects for LTE-Advanced Networks

In this paper the possibility of device-to-device (D2D) communications as an underlay of an LTE-A network is introduced. The D2D communication enables new service opportunities and reduces the eNB load for short range data intensive peer-to-peer communication. The cellular network may establish a new type of radio bearer dedicated for D2D communications and stay in control of the session setup and the radio resources without routing the user plane traffic. The paper addresses critical issues and functional blocks to enable D2D communication as an add-on functionality to the LTE SAE architecture. Unlike 3G spread spectrum cellular and OFDM WLAN techniques, LTE-A resource management is fast and operates in high time-frequency resolution. This could allow the use of non-allocated time-frequency resources, or even partial reuse of the allocated resources for D2D with eNB controlled power constraints. The feasibility and the range of D2D communication, and its impact to the power margins of cellular communications are studied by simulations in two example scenarios. The results demonstrate that by tolerating a modest increase in interference, D2D communication with practical range becomes feasible. By tolerating higher interference power the D2D range will increase.

Enabling LTE/WiFi coexistence by LTE blank subframe allocation

The recent development of regulatory policies that permit the use of TV bands spectrum on a secondary basis has motivated discussion about coexistence of primary (e.g. TV broadcasts) and secondary users (e.g. WiFi users in TV spectrum). However, much less attention has been given to coexistence of different secondary wireless technologies in the TV white spaces. Lack of coordination between secondary networks may create severe interference situations, resulting in less efficient usage of the spectrum. In this paper, we consider two of the most prominent wireless technologies available today, namely Long Term Evolution (LTE), and WiFi, and address some problems that arise from their coexistence in the same band. We perform exhaustive system simulations and observe that WiFi is hampered much more significantly than LTE in coexistence scenarios. A simple coexistence scheme that reuses the concept of almost blank subframes in LTE is proposed, and it is observed that it can improve the WiFi throughput per user up to 50 times in the studied scenarios.

Performance Evaluation of LTE and Wi-Fi Coexistence in Unlicensed Bands

The deployment of modern mobile systems has faced severe challenges due to the current spectrum scarcity. The situation has been further worsened by the development of different wireless technologies and standards that can be used in the same frequency band. Furthermore, the usage of smaller cells (e.g. pico, femto and wireless LAN), coexistence among heterogeneous networks (including amongst different wireless technologies such as LTE and Wi-Fi deployed in the same frequency band) has been a big field of research in the academy and industry. In this paper, we provide a performance evaluation of coexistence between LTE and Wi-Fi systems and show some of the challenges faced by the different technologies. We focus on a simulator-based system- level analysis in order to assess the network performance in an office scenario. Simulation results show that LTE system performance is slightly affected by coexistence whereas Wi-Fi is significantly impacted by LTE transmissions. In coexistence, the Wi-Fi channel is most often blocked by LTE interference, making the Wi-Fi nodes to stay on the LISTEN mode more than 96% of the time. This reflects directly on the Wi-Fi user throughput, that decreases from 70% to ≈100% depending on the scenario. Finally, some of the main issues that limit the LTE/Wi-Fi coexistence and some pointers on the mutual interference management of both the systems are provided.