The exploitation of the mm-wave bands is one of the most promising solutions for 5G mobile radio networks. However, the use of mm-wave technologies in cellular networks is not straightforward due to mm-wave harsh propagation conditions that limit access availability. In order to overcome this obstacle, hybrid network architectures are being considered where mm-wave small cells can exploit an overlay coverage layer based on legacy technology. The additional mm-wave layer can also take advantage of a functional split between control and user plane, that allows to delegate most of the signaling functions to legacy base stations and to gather context information from users for resource optimization. However, mm-wave technology requires high gain antenna systems to compensate for high path loss and limited power, e.g., through the use of multiple antennas for high directivity. Directional transmissions must be also used for the cell discovery and synchronization process, and this can lead to a non-negligible delay due to the need to scan the cell area with multiple transmissions at different directions. In this paper, we propose to exploit the context information related to user position, provided by the separated control plane, to improve the cell discovery procedure and minimize delay. We investigate the fundamental trade-offs of the cell discovery process with directional antennas and the effects of the context information accuracy on its performance. Numerical results are provided to validate our observations.
The cell discovery problem in mm-wave cellular networks has been considered in @cite_12 and @cite_2 . In @cite_2 , authors show that there is a mismatch between the area where the network is discoverable (C-plane range) and the area where the mm-wave service is available (U-plane range). In @cite_12 , the cell discovery in directional mm-wave cellular networks is addressed from the physical layer point of view, and the problem of designing the best detector is investigated.
@cite_12 @cite_2
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The acute disparity between increasing bandwidth demand and available spectrum has brought millimeter wave (mmWave) bands to the forefront of candidate solutions for the next-generation cellular networks. Highly directional transmissions are essential for cellular communication in these frequencies to compensate for higher isotropic path loss. This reliance on directional beamforming, however, complicates initial cell search since mobiles and base stations must jointly search over a potentially large angular directional space to locate a suitable path to initiate communication. To address this problem, this paper proposes a directional cell discovery procedure where base stations periodically transmit synchronization signals, potentially in time-varying random directions, to scan the angular space. Detectors for these signals are derived based on a Generalized Likelihood Ratio Test (GLRT) under various signal and receiver assumptions. The detectors are then simulated under realistic design parameters and channels based on actual experimental measurements at 28 GHz in New York City. The study reveals two key findings: 1) digital beamforming can significantly outperform analog beamforming even when digital beamforming uses very low quantization to compensate for the additional power requirements and 2) omnidirectional transmissions of the synchronization signals from the base station generally outperform random directional scanning. Communication in millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum has gained an increasing interests for tackling the spectrum crunch problem and meeting the high network capacity demand in 4G and beyond. Considering the channel characteristics of mmWave bands, it can be fit into heterogeneous networks (HetNet) for boosting local-area data rate. In this paper, we investigate the challenges in deploying an anchor-booster based HetNet with mmWave capable booster cells. We show that due to the channel characteristics of mmWave bands, there could be a mismatch between the discoverable coverage area of booster cell at mmWave band and the actual supportable coverage area. Numerical results are provided in validating the observation. We suggest possible ways in addressing the coverage mismatch problem. This work provides insights on the deployment and implementation challenges in mmWave capable HetNets.