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Peiying Zhu

Publications and source records attributed to Peiying Zhu.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

HAPS for 6G Networks: Potential Use Cases, Open Challenges, and Possible Solutions

High altitude platform station (HAPS), which is deployed in the stratosphere at an altitude of 20-50 kilometres, has attracted much attention in recent years due to their large footprint, line-of-sight links, and fixed position relative to the Earth. Compared with existing network infrastructure, HAPS has a much larger coverage area than terrestrial base stations and is much closer than satellites to the ground users. Besides small-cells and macro-cells, a HAPS can offer one mega-cell, which can complement legacy networks in 6G and beyond wireless systems. This paper explores potential use cases and discusses relevant open challenges of integrating HAPS into legacy networks, while also suggesting some solutions to these challenges. The cumulative density functions of spectral efficiency of the integrated network and cell-edge users are studied and compared with terrestrial network. The results show the capacity gains achieved by the integrated network are beneficial to cell-edge users. Furthermore, the advantages of a HAPS for backhauling aerial base stations are demonstrated by the simulation results.

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On the Road to 6G: Visions, Requirements, Key Technologies and Testbeds

Fifth generation (5G) mobile communication systems have entered the stage of commercial development, providing users with new services and improved user experiences as well as offering a host of novel opportunities to various industries. However, 5G still faces many challenges. To address these challenges, international industrial, academic, and standards organizations have commenced research on sixth generation (6G) wireless communication systems. A series of white papers and survey papers have been published, which aim to define 6G in terms of requirements, application scenarios, key technologies, etc. Although ITU-R has been working on the 6G vision and it is expected to reach a consensus on what 6G will be by mid-2023, the related global discussions are still wide open and the existing literature has identified numerous open issues. This paper first provides a comprehensive portrayal of the 6G vision, technical requirements, and application scenarios, covering the current common understanding of 6G. Then, a critical appraisal of the 6G network architecture and key technologies is presented. Furthermore, existing testbeds and advanced 6G verification platforms are detailed for the first time. In addition, future research directions and open challenges are identified for stimulating the on-going global debate. Finally, lessons learned to date concerning 6G networks are discussed.

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Sustaining Dynamic Traffic in Dense Urban Areas with High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS)

The impact of information and communication technologies on global energy consumption is increasing every year, and mobile networks account for a significant portion of it. More than 50% of the total energy consumption of mobile networks is issued from radio access networks (RANs), due mainly to the rapid penetration of data-intensive applications and the increasing heterogeneity, dynamicity, and unpredictability of traffic. To tackle these high-demanding problems, RAN densification through the installation of additional base stations in high-demand areas is conventionally used. However, this leads to inefficient energy use and over-provisioning issues. In this context, high altitude platform stations (HAPS) may be used to complement RANs and sustain their services in densely populated areas, where traffic can peak unpredictably. Due to their wide coverage areas, substantial communication payloads, and green energy model, HAPS super macro base stations (SMBSs) are capable of handling the massive and dynamic mobile data traffic of ground users. In this paper, we show how HAPS-SMBSs can complement RANs and serve the dynamic and unpredictable traffic demands of users in an energy-efficient manner. Through the simulation of a case study, we demonstrate the performance of a HAPS-SMBS compared to the conventional RAN densification method and analyze the two approaches in terms of sustainability.

cs.NI↗

Rate-Splitting Multiple Access for Enhanced URLLC and eMBB in 6G

Rate-Splitting Multiple Access (RSMA) is a flexible and robust multiple access scheme for downlink multi-antenna wireless networks. RSMA relies on Rate-Splitting (RS) at the transmitter and Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) at the receivers. In this work, we study the performance of RSMA in the scenarios related with the important core services of New Radio (NR) and 6G, namely, enhanced Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency (URLLC) and enhanced Mobile Broadband Communications (eMBB). We present the optimal system designs employing RSMA that target short-packet and low-latency communications as well as robust communications with high-throughput under the practical and important setup of imperfect Channel State Information at Transmitter (CSIT) originating from user mobility and feedback latency in the network. We demonstrate via numerical results that RSMA achieves significantly higher performance than Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA) and Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA), and is capable of addressing the requirements for enhanced URLLC and eMBB in 6G efficiently.

cs.IT↗

A Vision of Self-Evolving Network Management for Future Intelligent Vertical HetNet

Future integrated terrestrial-aerial-satellite networks will have to exhibit some unprecedented characteristics for the provision of both communications and computation services, and security for a tremendous number of devices with very broad and demanding requirements across multiple networks, operators, and ecosystems. Although 3GPP introduced the concept of self-organization networks (SONs) in 4G and 5G documents to automate network management, even this progressive concept will face several challenges as it may not be sufficiently agile in coping with the immense levels of complexity, heterogeneity, and mobility in the envisioned beyond-5G integrated networks. In the presented vision, we discuss how future integrated networks can be intelligently and autonomously managed to efficiently utilize resources, reduce operational costs, and achieve the targeted Quality of Experience (QoE). We introduce the novel concept of "self-evolving networks (SENs)" framework, which utilizes artificial intelligence, enabled by machine learning (ML) algorithms, to make future integrated networks fully automated and intelligently evolve with respect to the provision, adaptation, optimization, and management aspects of networking, communications, computation, and infrastructure nodes' mobility. To envisage the concept of SEN in future integrated networks, we use the Intelligent Vertical Heterogeneous Network (I-VHetNet) architecture as our reference. The paper discusses five prominent scenarios where SEN plays the main role in providing automated network management. Numerical results provide an insight on how the SEN framework improves the performance of future integrated networks. The paper presents the leading enablers and examines the challenges associated with the application of SEN concept in future integrated networks.

cs.NI↗

Aerial Platforms with Reconfigurable Smart Surfaces for 5G and Beyond

Aerial platforms are expected to deliver enhanced and seamless connectivity in the fifth generation (5G) wireless networks and beyond (B5G). This is generally achievable by supporting advanced onboard communication features embedded in heavy and energy-intensive equipment. Alternatively, reconfigurable smart surfaces (RSS), which smartly exploit/recycle signal reflections in the environment, are increasingly being recognized as a new wireless communication paradigm to improve communication links. In fact, their reduced cost, low power use, light weight, and flexible deployment make them an attractive candidate for integration with 5G/B5G technologies. In this article, we discuss comprehensive approaches to the integration of RSS in aerial platforms. First, we present a review of RSS technology, its operations and types of communication. Next, we describe how RSS can be used in aerial platforms, and we propose a control architecture workflow. Then, several potential use cases are presented and discussed. Finally, associated research challenges are identified.

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High Altitude Platform Station based Super Macro Base Station (HAPS-SMBS) Constellations

High altitude platform station (HAPS) systems have recently attracted renewed attention. While terrestrial and satellite technologies are well-established for providing connectivity services, they face certain shortcomings and challenges, which could be addressed by complementing them with HAPS systems. In this paper, we envision a HAPS as a super macro base station, which we refer to as HAPS-SMBS, to provide connectivity in a plethora of applications. Unlike a conventional HAPS, which targets broad coverage for remote areas or disaster recovery, we envision next-generation HAPS-SMBS to have the necessary capabilities to address the high capacity, low latency, and computing requirements especially for highly populated metropolitan areas. This article focuses mainly on the potential opportunities, target use cases, and challenges that we expect to be associated with the design and implementation of the HAPS-SMBS based future wireless access architecture.

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Uplink Contention Based SCMA for 5G Radio Access

Fifth generation (5G) wireless networks are expected to support very diverse applications and terminals. Massive connectivity with a large number of devices is an important requirement for 5G networks. Current LTE system is not able to efficiently support massive connectivity, especially on the uplink (UL). Among the issues arise due to massive connectivity is the cost of signaling overhead and latency. In this paper, an uplink contention-based sparse code multiple access (SCMA) design is proposed as a solution. First, the system design aspects of the proposed multiple-access scheme are described. The SCMA parameters can be adjusted to provide different levels of overloading, thus suitable to meet the diverse traffic connectivity requirements. In addition, the system-level evaluations of a small packet application scenario are provided for contention-based UL SCMA. SCMA is compared to OFDMA in terms of connectivity and drop rate under a tight latency requirement. The simulation results demonstrate that contention-based SCMA can provide around 2.8 times gain over contention-based OFDMA in terms of supported active users. The uplink contention-based SCMA scheme can be a promising technology for 5G wireless networks for data transmission with low signaling overhead, low delay, and support of massive connectivity.

cs.IT↗