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

移动设备正在实现对当今商业和社会的深刻影响，它们的成功继续在生活的方方面面提供丰富的新应用。这种持续的扩张是由于设备本身的速度和容量的快速进步以及移动网络容量的增加。然而，由于移动设备产生或消费数据的能力远远超过了为其提供数据的网络的能力，因此移动设备现在已经达到了有效地“数据匮乏”的性能水平。下一代或5G无线网络有望满足这一日益增长的需求，同时使用更小的无线蜂窝。将数据流量分流到小蜂窝已经是一种成熟的技术，用于向宏蜂窝过载的密集环境增加容量。该项目使用光无线技术将卸载概念扩展到小型蜂窝，在多用户室内环境中提供额外的超高密度光蜂窝。这些共存的无线和光纤无线小蜂窝部署(群众)网络将实现持续增强的网络内性能，这对于保持移动设备新应用的增长和势头至关重要，包括互联健康、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蜂窝(RF-SC)，并实现未来超高密度网络提供的新水平的性能。在所提出的人群网络中，当存在可靠的OW小区时，OW小区被用于智能地从RF-SC卸载高速下行链路业务。虽然覆盖面积小、定向OW小区分布密集，提高了区域频谱效率和综合无线容量，但同时也增加了无缝连接维护的难度。因此，RF-SC为高移动性设备和没有可靠OW连接的设备提供覆盖。群组网络旨在实现密集多用户环境中无线吞吐量、延迟和流性能方面的性能提升。工作成果包括：(1)在不同的用户流量和移动性模型下分析和模拟不同类型的人群网络，(2)为未来5G系统创建和采用人群网络的设计框架和方法，以及(3)适合于验证分析和模拟结果的功能概念验证实施，作为扩大到更大人群网络的蓝图。

Mobile devices are realizing 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.