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重大的结构改变。其中一项变化是引入小型蜂窝基站，这被视为一个非常有希望的解决方案。然而，它需要应对根本的挑战：1)节点？自组织，2)网络异构性，3)资源分配对系统参数的高度敏感性。这项拟议的研究通过探索一个经常被忽视的维度来应对这些挑战：用户的情境。为了实现这一目标，首先，提出了从设备、地理位置和社交指标三个维度提取上下文的机器学习技术。然后，利用匹配理论这一经济学和博弈论的有力工具，提出了上下文感知的资源管理方案。随后，利用从联盟博弈论中学到的新工具，利用所学的背景来设计合作小细胞模型。通过试验台实现和软件仿真进行了综合评估。开发的分析工具将为情景感知、自组织的小蜂窝网络奠定基础，并将影响通信、博弈论和社会科学等多个学科。所产生的结果将为开发新的小型蜂窝产品提供新的思路。通过纳入新的和现有的课程，以及通过指导、参与试验台开发和在工业实验室实习来培训学生，这项研究完全融入了教育计划。一个开发的小细胞教育工具将通过新的实践活动和社区示范来促进这种融合。专门的外联活动将有助于增加少数族裔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.