Improved Handover Through Dual Connectivity in 5G mmWave Mobile Networks

The millimeter wave (mmWave) bands offer the possibility of orders of magnitude greater throughput for fifth-generation (5G) cellular systems. However, since mmWave signals are highly susceptible to blockage, channel quality on any one mmWave link can be extremely intermittent. This paper implements...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE journal on selected areas in communications 2017-09, Vol.35 (9), p.2069-2084
Main Authors: Polese, Michele, Giordani, Marco, Mezzavilla, Marco, Rangan, Sundeep, Zorzi, Michele
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
5G mobile communication
Access control
blockage
Computer simulation
Electronic devices
Handover
Long Term Evolution
millimeter wave
mobility
multi-connectivity
Robustness
Switches
Switching theory
Wireless networks
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The millimeter wave (mmWave) bands offer the possibility of orders of magnitude greater throughput for fifth-generation (5G) cellular systems. However, since mmWave signals are highly susceptible to blockage, channel quality on any one mmWave link can be extremely intermittent. This paper implements a novel dual connectivity protocol that enables mobile user equipment devices to maintain physical layer connections to 4G and 5G cells simultaneously. A novel uplink control signaling system combined with a local coordinator enables rapid path switching in the event of failures on any one link. This paper provides the first comprehensive end-to-end evaluation of handover mechanisms in mmWave cellular systems. The simulation framework includes detailed measurement-based channel models to realistically capture spatial dynamics of blocking events, as well as the full details of Medium Access Control, Radio Link Control, and transport protocols. Compared with conventional handover mechanisms, this paper reveals significant benefits of the proposed method under several metrics.
ISSN:0733-8716
1558-0008
DOI:10.1109/JSAC.2017.2720338