NeTS: Medium: Collaborative Research: Enabling Cellular Services over Unplanned Femto-Cell Deployments: From Theory to Implementation

这项研究的目的是为毫微微蜂窝网络中的资源分配奠定基础，并使用真实的测试床来评估解决方案的性能。由于四个主要原因，基于毫微微小区的网络中的无线资源分配特别具有挑战性：(1)毫微微小区之间以及毫微微小区与宏小区之间的干扰；(2)每个毫微微小区与运营商网络之间的信令和数据通信中可变且不可预测的延迟；(3)通过无线信道向大量毫微微小区发送信令的有限带宽；以及(4)具有不同优先级的三方的参与：运营商、用户和毫微微小区所有者。本项目的具体研究任务是：(1)对于遗留系统，开发不需要对现有硬件和标准进行任何更改的宏和毫微微小区共同部署下的下行和上行链路调度和切换的分布式解决方案；(2)使用称为Glauber Dynamic的统计物理学的强大工具，开发分布式、自适应和自组织的资源分配解决方案；以及(3)设计机制，以促进涉及最终用户、毫微微小区所有者和运营商的实际环境中的离线真实拍卖。这些解决方案将在密歇根大学和俄亥俄州立大学正在开发的两个试验床上实施和评估。这项拟议的研究有可能对蜂窝行业和最终用户产生重大影响。鉴于全球手机的高普及率，这项研究产生了立竿见影的广泛影响。

The objective of the proposed research is to develop the foundations for resource allocation in femtocell networks, and evaluate the performance of the solutions using real testbeds. Wireless resource allocation in femtocell-based networks is particularly challenging due to four main reasons: (1) interference between femtocells and between femto- and macro-cells; (2) variable and unpredictable delays in signaling and data communication between each femtocell and the operator's network; (3) limited bandwidth for signaling over a wireless channel to a large number of femtocells; and, (4) involvement of three parties with differing priorities: the operator, the users, and the femtocell owners. The specific research tasks in this project are: (1) For legacy systems, develop distributed solutions for both downlink and uplink scheduling and handover under co-deployment of macro- and femto-cells that do not require any changes to existing hardware and standards; (2) Develop distributed, adaptive and self-organizing solutions (unconstrained by legacy requirements) for resource allocation by using a powerful tool from statistical physics, called Glauber dynamics; and (3) Design mechanisms to facilitate offline truthful auctions in practical settings involving the end-users, the femtocell owners, and the operator. The solutions will be implemented and evaluated on two testbeds under development at University of Michigan and at Ohio State University. The proposed research has the potential to significantly impact the cellular industry and end-users. Given the high penetration rates of cell-phones worldwide, this research has an immediate and widespread impact.