Unit – 5

1. Discuss performance indicators to be used in the evaluation of the 5G system.

Performance indicators
The main performance indicators to be used in the evaluation of the 5G system
are –
1. User throughput –
The user throughput is defined as the total amount of received
information bits at the receiver divided by the total active session time at the
data link layer. Active session time does not include the waiting time at the
application layer, e.g. reading time for web-browsing, or back-off time
introduced by TCP/IP’s traffic control, and therefore it is, in general, different
from the session length.
2. Application data rate –
The application data rate is defined as the data bit rate from the
application layer of the user, i.e. data bits related to Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP) and protocol overhead are excluded. This definition facilitates
the comparison of technology components that can implement changes at any
layer in the protocol stack.
3. Cell throughput –
The cell throughput is defined as the total amount of received
information bits in the cell under a pre-specified time interval. The cell is
defined as a single point of data aggregation for which the cell throughput is
measured, e.g. a traditional Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cell
or a Wi-Fi access point.
4. Spectral efficiency –
The spectral efficiency is defined as the aggregated user throughput
divided by the aggregated spectrum used per measurement unit in the data link
layer. The aggregated spectrum includes the spectrum used for e.g. control and
 broadcast signalling. The measurement unit is a cell or an area unit, e.g. square
kilometres. The cell spectral efficiency is defined as the spectral efficiency
where the aggregation is taking place per cell.
5. Traffic volume –
The traffic volume is defined at the application layer as the aggregated
served traffic to all users, either in total for the setting or per area unit.
6. Error rate –
The bit error rate is defined as the error rate of transmitted bits on the
raw demodulation of the investigated technology. The frame error rate is
defined as the error rate of transmitted information blocks. For example, the
information block can be a link-level codeword or a system-level transport
block at the data link layer.
7. Delay –
The application end-to-end delay is defined as the time elapsed from the
application layer at the source to the application layer at the destination. The
Medium Access Control (MAC) layer delay is defined as the time elapsed from
the MAC layer at the source to the MAC layer at the destination.
8. Network energy performance –
The network energy performance is defined as the energy consumed to
the number of served bits at the data link layer.
9. Cost –
Cost is the amount of capital consumed to reach a certain solution. To
enable an easy comparison, cost can be normalized by the system data rate,
thus resulting in the metric of cost per served bit.
2. Discuss application of Device to device (D2D) communications in 5G.
Applications of 5G D2D include local service, emergency communication, and
IoT enhancement.
a) Local Service –
In local service, user data is directly transmitted between terminals and does not route
through the network side. Local service is typically used for social apps. Social apps
based on the proximity feature are a basic D2D application. With the D2D discovery
and communication functions, a user can find other nearby users and share data or
play games with them.
Another basic application of local service is local data transmission. Local data
transmission leverages the proximity and direct data transmission features of D2D to
expand mobile applications while saving spectrum resources. This creates a new
source of revenue for operators. For instance, local advertising service based on
proximity can accurately target people to maximize its benefits. A shopping mall can
send commercials, discounts and promotions to people who walk into or around the
mall, and a cinema can push movie information and showtimes to people nearby.
A third application of local service is cellular traffic offloading. As media
services such as HD videos become popular, their massive traffic flows put
tremendous pressure on core networks and spectrum resources. D2D-based local
media services can help operators save their core network and spectrum resources. In
hotspot areas, operators or content providers can deploy media servers that store
popular media services. These media servers deliver media services in D2D mode to
users. Alternatively, users can use D2D to get the media content from nearby user
terminals that have obtained media services. In this way, the downlink transmission
pressure of operator cellular networks can be eased. Moreover, the cellular
communication between short-distance users can be switched to the D2D mode to
offload cellular traffic.
 b) Emergency Communication –
When natural disasters such as earthquakes occur, traditional communication
network infrastructure can get damaged and the network may even collapse. This
greatly hampers rescue efforts. This problem can be solved by introducing D2D
communication. Although the communication network infrastructure may be
damaged, a wireless network can still be set up between terminals based on the D2D
connection. This means that an ad hoc network can be established based on multi-hop
D2D to ensure smooth wireless communication between terminals. A wireless
network affected by terrain or buildings may have blind spots. With single-hop or
multi-hop D2D communication, users in the blind spots can be connected to user
terminals that are in coverage areas and then be connected to the wireless network.

c) IoT Enhancement –

One of the goals of developing mobile communication is to establish an

extensive interconnected network that contains various types of terminals. This is also
one of the starting points for developing the Internet of Things (IoT) in the cellular
communication framework. The industry forecasts that by 2020 there will be 50
billion cellular access terminals on a global scale and most of them will be machine
terminals with the IoT feature. If D2D is combined with IoT, a truly interconnected
wireless network will be created.
A typical application of D2D-based IoT enhancement is vehicle-to-vehicle
(V2V) communication in the Internet of Vehicles (IoV). When running at high
speeds, a vehicle can warn nearby vehicles in D2D mode before it changes lanes or
slows down (Fig. 2). According to the received warnings, nearby vehicles alert drivers
or even automatically control the driving in an emergency situation so that drivers
can react more quickly to reduce the number of traffic accidents. Furthermore, using
D2D discovery technology, vehicles can reliably detect and identify specific vehicles
nearby, such as those vehicles that may cause danger at intersections and those
specific vehicles (school buses or vehicles carrying dangerous goods) that need
special attention.

3. Explain research challenges for D2D communication in 5G.

a) Capacity/throughput gain: Because the involved devices are in close
proximity with potentially better propagation conditions comparing to the
propagation conditions toward the Base Station (BS), link throughput can be
improved due to e.g. better Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) level. In
addition, there is the possibility of sharing the same radio resources among
cellular users and D2D users, which can improve the overall spectrum usage.
System capacity can be improved due to offloading and local content sharing
gain from D2D communication.
b) Latency gain: The End-to-End (E2E) latency may be reduced due to a short
distance with less propagation delay, and no involvement of infrastructure
network entities resulting in reduced transport delay and processing delay.
c) Availability and reliability gain: D2D can be used to extend network
coverage with one hop or multi-hop. Network coding and cooperative diversity
via D2D can be used to enhance link quality as well. Furthermore, a D2D ad-
hoc network can provide a fall-back solution in case of a failure of the
infrastructure or in case the infrastructure cannot be easily established.
d) Enabling new services: Full-blown D2D has great potential to enable new
services and applications not only in the telecommunication area, but also in
vertical industries, as for example Vehicle-to-X (V2X) communication.
e) Device discovery: Efficient network-assisted D2D discovery, which is used to
determine the proximity between devices and the potential to establish a direct
D2D link, is a key element in order to enable D2D communication and possible
new applications.
f) Communication mode selection: Mode selection is another core function that
controls whether two devices will communicate to each other in direct D2D
mode or in regular cellular mode (via a BS). In direct D2D mode, the devices
can take advantage of their proximity and may reuse cellular resources for the
direct communication link. In cellular mode, the devices communicate through
a common or separate serving BS by means of regular cellular links in
orthogonal resources with cellular users.
g) Co-existence and interference management: Considering co-existence and
related interference issues, at least two different aspects should be taken into
account: (1) co-existence among a large number of D2D links, and (2) co-
existence among D2D links and regular cellular links. Efficient schemes to
handle the interference are of importance in order to achieve the potential D2D
benefits.
h) Multi-operator or inter-operator D2D operation: Inter-operator D2D is a
clear requirement resulting from e.g. V2X communication, and supporting
inter-operator D2D operation is essential for the 5G D2D concept. Without
multi-operator D2D support, the applicability of the future D2D solution to e.g.
Cooperative Intelligent Traffic Systems will be quite limited. Considering
inter-operator D2D operation, issues to be solved include, for example,
spectrum usage and how to control and coordinate UEs in D2D communication
across multiple operators’ networks.
4. Explain classification of D2D communication in 5G.

Basically, there are two types of D2D communication, namely, In-band and
Out-band. The major difference between the two is the frequency spectrum band in
which the D2D communication is operating.
D2D
Communication

Inband D2D Outband D2D

Network Autonomous
Controlled D2D D2D
Overlay D2D Underlay D2D

In Coverage D2D

Out of Coverage
D2D

1. In-Band D2D Communication –

In in-band communication, D2D share licensed cellular spectrum along with
other cellular users in the LTE–A network. The network infrastructure i.e. eNB have
total/partial control over the D2D users. The eNB is responsible for discovering
potential D2D devices, link establishment based on channel state information, radio
resource allocation either uplink or downlink, power control based on some certain
pre– defined threshold level as well as interference coordination between the cellular
and D2D users. The in-band D2D communication is further divided into underlay
(non– orthogonal) and overlay (orthogonal) modes.
a) Underlay In-Band –
In underlay in-band, the D2D users and cellular users are allocated the same
radio resources simultaneously by the eNB. The eNB reuses either the uplink or
downlink resource blocks for D2D communication based on certain performance
metrics such as mutual distance between D2D and cellular users, transmit power
level, interference limited area etc. This type of implementation is also known as the
reuse mode (non–orthogonal resource sharing). The reuse mode can achieve higher
spectrum efficiency compared with overlay. However, it introduces severe
interference problem between the D2D and cellular users, since both users are
simultaneously using the same physical resource blocks. Since the cellular users are
the primary users of the spectrum band, underlaying D2D communication on the same
band, implies that, QoS of the cellular communication as well as the D2D itself
becomes a challenge.
b) Overlay In-Band –
In this type of D2D communication also referred to as dedicated mode, fixed
(orthogonal) resources are allocated for D2D communication by the eNB from the
cellular band. For this reason, the mutual interference between cellular and D2D users
is eliminated, since each communication mode occupy a separate and dedicated
physical resource blocks for their individual communication. But still, there is mutual
interference among the D2D users since multiple D2D links can reuse the same RBs
for their transmissions, which affect the overall network throughput. The overlay in-
band has a major drawback of underutilization of radio resources as compared to
underlay mode. This is because when there is no any D2D session; the dedicated
resources are left ideal, which translate to inefficient spectrum usage.
2. Out-Band D2D Communication –
Out-band D2D communication exploit the unlicensed ISM frequency band for
its operations. This is similar to the operating band of WLAN and Bluetooth
technologies. In out band D2D, coordination and management of D2D connections
can either be controlled by the eNB also known as network– controlled, or by the
D2D users themselves, referred to as autonomous. The main advantage of this
category of D2D is that it eliminates the interference problem between cellular and
D2D links. Also, resource allocation becomes easier since the scheduler (eNB) does
not need to take into account frequency, time and location of users when assigning
resource blocks (RBs) to both D2D and cellular users.
 a) Network-Assisted D2D Communication –
In network–assisted, the eNB is responsible for synchronizing D2D users in
time, frequency and phase using primary synchronization signal (PSS) and secondary
synchronization signal (SSS) during cell search procedure. It provides control
information signals via physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), for device
discovery, session setup, link establishment, resource scheduling assignment, power
control, routing, etc. Also, the eNB monitors the D2D links to ensure that the D2D
policies are not violated. The D2D users periodically feedback current status report
on direct link and other control information surrounding the environment, to the eNB
via physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), random access channel (RACH), etc.
Such report information includes channel state information (CSI), signal to
interference and noise ratio (SINR), device discovery request, scheduling request. In
essence, the eNB have total control of all D2D link activities, performs radio resource
management (RRM) effectively, and hence, any undesirable interfering signals both
from the cellular and D2D communications can easily be coordinated. Network–
assisted D2D provides the benefits of satisfying the QoS requirements of cellular
communication while managing D2D communications effectively and efficiently,
with the aim of improving the overall system throughput. However, it incurs high
signalling overhead necessary to manage and control D2D activities. For example,
the eNB require the knowledge of the full CSI of all involved links for interference
avoidance techniques. This increases complexity on the part of the eNB.
 b) Autonomous D2D Communication –
In autonomous D2D communication, the eNB have partial control over the
activities of the D2D users or links. The eNB performs radio resource allocation in a
large time scale, put restriction on the maximum transmit power allowed at the side
of D2D users, etc. D2D users independently establish communication session through
direct discovery, by announcing and monitoring process between the D2D pair, as
shown in Figure. At the same time, the D2D users are able to control radio resource
allocation and schedule their own transmission and set power control autonomously
in a distributed fashion. Autonomous D2D communication is applicable in both in–
coverage and out–of–coverage area scenarios where there is serving eNB and no
cellular network infrastructure, respectively. In both cases, the D2D pair can
independently establish communication between each other. The key benefits of
autonomous D2D is that the eNB incur less signalling overhead, which allows it to
serve other cellular users. However, interference management among D2D users,
high implementation complexity on part of the D2D users, is among the major
challenges for the autonomous D2D.