Improved Handover Through Dual Connectivity in 5G mmWave Mobile Networks

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Abstract

The millimeter wave (mmWave) bands offer the possibility of orders of magnitude greater throughput for fifth generation (5G) cellular systems. However, since mmWave signals are very susceptible to blockage, channel quality on any one mmWave link can be extremely intermittent. This paper implements a novel dual connectivity protocol that enables mobile user equipment (UE) devices to maintain physical layer connections to 4G and 5G cells simultaneously. A novel uplink control signaling system combined with a local coordinator enables rapid path switching in the event of failures on any one link. Based on this approach, this paper provides the first comprehensive evaluation of handover mechanisms in mmWave cellular systems. The simulation framework includes detailed measurement-based channel models to realistically capture spatial dynamics of blocking events, as well as the full details of MAC, RLC and end-to-end transport protocols. The study reveals significant benefits of the proposed method under several metrics, compared to conventional handover mechanisms.

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An introduction to millimeter-wave mobile broadband systems

Zhouyue Pi, Farooq Khan (2011)

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Millimeter Wave Cellular Wireless Networks: Potentials and Challenges

Theodore Rappaport, Elza Erkip, Sundeep Rangan (2014)

Millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies between 30 and 300 GHz are a new frontier for cellular communication that offers the promise of orders of magnitude greater bandwidths combined with further gains via beamforming and spatial multiplexing from multi-element antenna arrays. This paper surveys measurements and capacity studies to assess this technology with a focus on small cell deployments in urban environments. The conclusions are extremely encouraging; measurements in New York City at 28 and 73 GHz demonstrate that, even in an urban canyon environment, significant non-line-of-sight (NLOS) outdoor, street-level coverage is possible up to approximately 200 m from a potential low power micro- or picocell base station. In addition, based on statistical channel models from these measurements, it is shown that mmW systems can offer more than an order of magnitude increase in capacity over current state-of-the-art 4G cellular networks at current cell densities. Cellular systems, however, will need to be significantly redesigned to fully achieve these gains. Specifically, the requirement of highly directional and adaptive transmissions, directional isolation between links and significant possibilities of outage have strong implications on multiple access, channel structure, synchronization and receiver design. To address these challenges, the paper discusses how various technologies including adaptive beamforming, multihop relaying, heterogeneous network architectures and carrier aggregation can be leveraged in the mmW context.