NeTS: Small: Collaborative Research: Coexistence of Directional Communications within 5G Networks: The Case for Visible Light Enhanced Small-Cells

移动的设备正在对当今的商业和社会产生深远的影响，它们的成功继续在生活的各个方面提供丰富的新应用。 这种持续的扩展是由于设备本身的速度和容量的快速进步以及移动的网络的容量增加。 然而，移动的设备现在已经达到了它们实际上“数据匮乏”的性能水平，因为它们产生或消费数据的能力远远超过了馈送它们的网络的能力。 下一代或5G无线网络有望满足这一不断增长的需求，同时使用更小的无线小区。将数据业务卸载到小小区已经是用于向宏小区过载的密集环境增加容量的既定技术。 该项目使用光无线技术将卸载概念扩展到小型小区，在多用户室内环境中提供额外的超密集光小区层。这些共存的无线电和光无线小小区部署（CROWD）网络将能够持续增强网络内性能，这对于保持移动的设备新应用的增长和势头至关重要，包括连接健康，增强现实，认知计算和万物互联。该项目旨在利用未开发的光无线（OW）频谱和OW小区的高区域频谱效率来增强现有的射频小小区（RF-SC），并实现未来超密集网络提供的新性能水平。在所提出的CROWD网络中，当存在可靠的OW小区时，OW小区用于智能地从RF-SC卸载高速下行链路业务。虽然定向OW小区的小覆盖区域和密集分布提高了区域频谱效率和聚合无线容量;但小也增加了保持无缝连接的难度。因此，RF-SC为高度移动的设备和没有可靠OW连接的设备提供覆盖。CROWD网络旨在在密集的多用户环境中实现无线吞吐量、延迟和流传输性能方面的性能增益。工作成果包括：（1）在不同的用户流量和移动性模型下对异构CROWD网络的分析和仿真，（2）用于为未来5G系统创建和采用CROWD网络的设计框架和方法，以及（3）适合于验证分析和仿真结果并作为扩展到更大CROWD网络的蓝图的功能概念验证实现。

Mobile devices are having a profound impact on commerce and society today and their success continues to provide rich new applications in all facets of life. This continued expansion is due to rapid advancements in speed and capacity of the devices themselves and the increased capacity of mobile networks. However, mobile devices have now reached performance levels in which they are effectively 'data starved' since their ability to produce or consume data far exceeds the capabilities of the networks which feed them. Next generation, or 5G, wireless networks hold promise to meet this growing demand coupled with the use of smaller wireless cells. Offloading data traffic to small cells is already an established technique for adding capacity to dense environments where macro-cells are overloaded. This project expands the offloading concept onto small cells using optical wireless techniques, providing an additional tier of ultra-dense optical cells in multi-user indoor environments. These Coexisting Radio and Optical Wireless small cell Deployment (CROWD) networks, will enable continued enhancement in-network performance that is essential to maintain the growth and momentum of new applications of mobile devices including connected health, augmented reality, cognitive computing, and the internet of everything. This project aims to use the untapped optical wireless (OW) spectrum and the high areal spectral efficiency of OW cells to augment existing Radio Frequency Small Cells (RF-SCs) and realize new levels of performance offered by future ultra-dense networks. In the proposed CROWD networks, the OW cells are used to intelligently offload high-speed downlink traffic from the RF-SC when a reliable OW cell exists. While small coverage area and dense distribution of directional OW cells improves area spectral efficiency and aggregate wireless capacity; smallness also increases the difficulty of maintaining seamless connectivity. Accordingly, the RF-SC provides coverage for highly mobile devices and devices without a reliable OW connection. CROWD networks are intended to realize performance gains in wireless throughput, latency, and streaming performance within dense multi-user environments. Outcomes of the work include: (1) analysis and simulation of heterogeneous CROWD networks under varying user traffic and mobility models, (2) a design framework and methodology for the creation and adoption of CROWD networks for future 5G systems, and (3) a functional proof-of-concept implementation suitable for validation of the analytic and simulation results and as a blueprint for scaling up to larger CROWD networks.