CAREER: Towards Context-Aware, Self-Organizing Wireless Small Cell Networks

随时随地提供无缝、高质量的无线服务需要对当今的宏蜂窝网络进行实质性的结构变革。其中一个改变是引入小型蜂窝基站，这被认为是一个非常有前途的解决方案。然而，它需要满足基本的挑战：1)节点？自组织，2)网络异质性，3)资源分配对系统参数的高度敏感性。拟议的研究通过探索一个经常被忽视的维度来解决这些挑战：用户的环境。为了实现这一目标，首先，提出了机器学习技术从三个维度提取上下文：设备、地理位置和社交指标。然后，通过推进匹配理论的新技术来开发上下文感知资源管理方案-匹配理论是经济学和博弈论的强大工具。随后，利用联盟博弈论的新工具，利用所学的上下文来设计合作小细胞模型。通过试验台实现和软件仿真对系统进行了综合评价。开发的分析工具将为上下文感知、自组织小型蜂窝网络奠定基础，并将影响多个学科，如通信、博弈论和社会科学。所产生的结果将为开发新的小细胞产品提供新的思路。该研究通过纳入新的和现有的课程，以及通过指导、参与测试平台开发和在工业实验室实习来培训学生，完全整合到教育计划中。开发的小细胞教育工具将通过新的实践活动和社区演示来促进这种整合。专门的外展活动将有助于增加少数民族高中生对科学和工程的参与。

Providing seamless, high quality wireless service anytime and anywhere requires substantial structural changes in today's macro-cellular networks. One such change, introducing small cell base stations, is seen as a highly promising solution. However, it requires meeting fundamental challenges: 1) nodes? self-organization, 2) network heterogeneity, and 3) high sensitivity of resource allocation to the system parameters. The proposed research addresses these challenges by exploring a dimension that has often been overlooked: the user's context. To achieve this goal, first, machine learning techniques are proposed to extract context from three dimensions: device, geo-location, and social metrics. Then, context-aware resource management schemes are developed by advancing novel techniques from matching theory - a powerful tool from economics and game theory. Subsequently, the learned context is leveraged to devise cooperative small cell models using new tools from coalitional game theory. Comprehensive evaluation is done via testbed implementation and software simulations. The developed analytical tools will lay the foundations of context-aware, self-organizing small cell networks and will impact multiple disciplines such as communications, game theory, and social sciences. The generated results will provide fresh ideas for developing new small cell products. The research is fully integrated into the educational plan via incorporation in new and existing courses as well as training students via mentoring, participation in testbed development, and internships at industrial labs. A developed small cell educational tool will foster this integration via new hands-on activities and demonstrations to the community. Specialized outreach activities will contribute to increasing the participation of minority high school students in science and engineering.