NeTS: Small: Enabling Cellular Networks to Exploit Millimeter-wave Opportunities (NEMOs)

对无线服务的需求持续快速增长，社会已经开始依赖于无线服务随时随地的可用性。传统的无线服务依赖于低于5千兆赫的无线电频率。这些频段被大量使用，如果只使用这些现有技术，未来的系统将无法满足所有需求。最近的工作已经创造出能够产生更高频率的通信信号的电子设备，从30-300千兆赫，这被称为“毫米波”频段。这些频段的通信链路有望提供巨大的无线容量，但与传统的无线电通信相比，这些链路的行为更像光束——它们可以定向，很容易被物体和人的身体阻挡。这个项目调查了无线网络的发展，可以有效地利用这些链路。这一探索是通过弗吉尼亚理工大学（VT）、都柏林三一学院（TCD）和贝尔法斯特女王大学（QUB）的合作进行的。该项目探索了这些毫米波通信系统的许多方面，重点是改善体育场、剧院和交通枢纽等人口密集环境中的服务。这项工作将影响未来蜂窝通信系统的发展；这些系统是社会的关键基础设施，也是经济增长的推动者。该项目的技术工作将通过六个研究重点来完成。将开发和评估利用毫米波通信链路的网络架构，同时通过传统的蜂窝网络保持对网络的控制。对毫米波信道进行新的测量将有助于建立更精确的毫米波通信链路数学模型。将探讨在链路条件存在不确定性的情况下，以保持用户应用程序感知性能的方式将资源分配给这些通信链路。这些密集部署的网络的容量将通过混合分析模拟技术的应用进行分析。将开发和研究新的基础设施共享模型，使毫米波基础设施能够在蜂窝运营商之间共享。最后，将通过使用商业硬件开发端到端模拟和概念验证演示，以整体方式评估开发的体系结构。

The demand for wireless services continues to increase rapidly, and society has come to rely on the availability of wireless services everywhere and at all times. Conventional wireless services rely on communications at radio frequencies below 5 GHz. These frequency bands are heavily used, and future systems will not be able to meet all demands if operated only with these existing technologies. Recent work has created electronic devices able to generate communications signals at higher frequencies, from 30-300 GHz, which is known as the 'millimeter wave' band. Communications links in these bands have the promise of delivering enormous wireless capacity, but these links behave somewhat more like beams of light than conventional radio communications they can be directional and are easily blocked by objects and by people's bodies. This project investigates the development of wireless networks that can effectively use these links. This exploration is through a collaboration between Virginia Tech (VT), Trinity College Dublin (TCD), and Queen's University Belfast (QUB). The project explores many aspects of these millimeter wave communication systems, with a focus on improving services in population-dense environments like stadiums, theaters, and transportation hubs. The work will influence the development of future cellular communications systems; these systems are critical infrastructure for society and enablers for economic growth. The technical work of the project will be accomplished through six research thrusts. A network architecture for exploiting millimeter wave communication links while maintaining control of the network via a conventional cellular network will be developed and assessed. Making new measurements of millimeter wave channels will enable the creation of more accurate mathematical models of millimeter wave communication links. The allocation of resources to these communication links in ways that preserve the perceived performance of user applications in the presence of uncertainty regarding link conditions will be explored. The capacity of these densely deployed networks will be analyzed through the application of hybrid analytical-simulative techniques. New models of infrastructure sharing to enable this millimeter wave infrastructure to be shared among cellular operators will be developed and studied. Finally, the developed architecture will be assessed in a holistic way by developing end-to-end simulations and proof-of-concept demonstrations using commercial hardware.