Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - SPEED-5G (quality of Service Provision and capacity Expansion through Extended-DSA for 5G)

Teaser

Speed-5G, has researched and developed key enablers to improve spectrum utilization while providing optimized Quality of Experience and capacity to meet the capacity targets set by ITU and 3GPP for 5G systems. Expecting that 5G will operate under a variety of spectrum regimes...

Summary

Speed-5G, has researched and developed key enablers to improve spectrum utilization while providing optimized Quality of Experience and capacity to meet the capacity targets set by ITU and 3GPP for 5G systems. Expecting that 5G will operate under a variety of spectrum regimes and regulatory models we focussed on three dimensions: ultra-densification through small cells, additional spectrum, and exploitation of resources across technology silos (spectrum silos). In Speed-5G this 3 dimensional model is referred to as extended-DSA (eDSA). Speed-5G built on the premise that capacity gains can be gleaned from:
- ultra-densification,
- dynamic resource use, smart aggregation and offloading across different RATs,
- Smart spectrum access.

SPEED-5G investigated and developed techniques to break spectrum and technology silos for optimal service provisioning and QoE, targeting following technical objectives:
• Develop enhanced mobile broadband network elements that will be capable of considerably expanding their capacity.
• Optimal use of heterogeneous technologies and support for eDSA.
• Design and implementation of new MAC protocols.
• Supporting ongoing 5G Standardization.

Work performed

The technical work was organised in: WP3 – Scenario refinement and system design, WP4 – Autonomous resource management, WP5 – Smart Medium Access, WP6 – Testbed and real time evaluation.

WP3 – Scenario refinement and system design delivered, D3.1 ‘Value chain analysis and system design’, and D3.2 ‘Speed-5G enhanced functional and system architecture, scenarios and performance evaluation metrics’.
The outcomes include the definitions of four use cases: (i) Massive IoT (indoor/outdoor); (ii) Broadband wireless (indoor/outdoor); (iii) Reliable communications (indoor/outdoor); (iv) High-speed mobility (e.g., vehicles on highways; high-speed trains). A value chain analysis and analysis of the impact of Speed-5G on the network/system design were also pursued. WP3 delivered the Speed-5G design principles and KPIs (aligned with the 3GPP and ITU defined 5G KPIs) for evaluating the final system.

WP4 – Autonomous resource management delivered, D4.1 ‘Metric Definition and Preliminary Strategies and Algorithms for Resource Management’, D4.2 ‘Resource Management Framework and Modelling’, D4.3 ‘Final definition of the RM solution options and recommendations’, and D4.3 ‘Final definition of the RM solution options and recommendations’.
The outcome, a RRM framework is based on: the 5G KPIs, the cRRM/dRRM (distributed) architecture, and the need to support RRM algorithms from different vendors. Six RRM algorithms have been developed, of which a sub-set was selected for integration into the proposed RRM framework in WP6 demonstrator platforms. A set of sixteen RRM algorithms was studied and a theoretical performance analysis was undertaken, a visualization software tool has been created.

WP5 – Smart Medium Access delivered, D5.1 ‘MAC approaches with FBMC and simulation results’, D5.2 ‘MAC approaches with FBMC (final)’, and D5.3 ‘Real time protocol implementation’.
WP5 specified and evaluated the Speed-5G MAC layer implementing the eDSA approach. This supports aggregation and Radio Access Network (RAN) split at the MAC layer. The eDSA framework relies on a Higher-MAC (HMAC) and Lower-MAC (LMAC) layer. LMAC handles resource scheduling and interfacing with the physical layer (PHY). The HMAC coordinates the operation of the RAT-specific MAC protocols at the LMAC, inter-RAT scheduling, and managing of the configuration of LMAC entities. The framework, two MAC versions (Dynamic Channel Selection (DCS) MAC and Filter-Bank Multi-carrier (FBMC) MAC) and various protocols have been defined, evaluated and demonstrated. They are documented in D5.1, D5.2, and D6.3.

WP6 – Testbed and real time evaluation delivered, D6.1 ‘Testbed architecture and setup’, D6.2 ‘Hybrid simulations with hardware in the loop’, and D6.3 ‘Testbed deployment and trials’.
The demonstrations, configurations and associated test cases were identified and reported in D6.1. The intermediate or ‘individual proof-of-concepts’ (PoCs 1-5), served to validate specific solutions and project innovations as proposed by each partner. These PoCs have been validated individually and then combined for the final project testbed platform. All PoCs are documented in D6.2 and D6.3, videos of some PoCs are available.

Exploitation and dissemination of the results
Main outcomes, including RRM/MAC framework, MAC-layers, RRM and MAC algorithms have been published in 78 conference and journal publications. The framework definition and PoCs have been presented to the regulators of UK, FR, CH, to the CEPT PT1 meeting (March 2017), to the Radio Equipment Directive Compliance Association (REDCA) in May 2018, and as input to 3GPP and ETSI standardisation. During a Workshop in March 2018, the results and demonstrators were presented to more than 50 external attendees at the BT headquarters in London. Finally, outcomes from WP5 have been included in a product line by the project partner Intracom.

Final results

Progress beyond state of the art produced in Speed-5G includes:
1. Design, evaluation and validation of novel resource management techniques – including:
- Efficient licensed-assisted access operation in same call cell based on reinforcement learning.
- RAT/spectrum/channel selection based on machine learning.
- Radio resource allocation with aggregation for mixed traffic in a heterogeneous network.
- Fuzzy Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) for multi-RAT spectrum management.
- Co-primary spectrum sharing in uplink SC-FDMA networks.
- Dynamic resource allocation algorithms for coexistence of LTE-U and WiFi.
- Design and detailed specification of novel MAC designs (FBMC-based MAC and DCS-MAC) that enable higher spectrum utilization. Simulation results prove that the (Speed-5G) MAC protocols will help improve Area Spectral Efficiency (ASE): DCS-MAC provides 4-5x higher ASE, and FBMC-MAC provides 2x higher ASE, compared to IEEE 802.11ac.
2. Design, implementation and validation of the MAC-split framework, on 6 proof-of-concept hardware platforms.
3. Development of advanced backhaul solution, superior to state-of-the-art solutions in terms of throughput, delay, availability. Gains of up to 84% in available throughput per link, 244% in capacity per area, 95% reduction in hop latency, and network (BH) availability improvement in region of 7 – 9 NINES, as compared to 3-5 NINES for legacy solutions.

Socio-economic impact and societal implications
Speed-5G contributes to achieving the target capacities for future radio systems, it provides a framework, mechanisms and algorithms that allow provision of high capacity at a significantly lower cost in terms of spectrum required to deliver this capacity. The stake holder implications as well as the wider society are significant, the eDSA framework will enable a much more effective utilisation of resources and thus lower the cost of 5G deployments. Furthermore, the flexibility the approach introduces will (as shown in our demonstrators) help ensuring that end users of mobile communication services will be able to enjoy better QoE in cases where the resources of the cellular system are limited of contested by many users.

Website & more info

More info: https://speed-5g.eu/.