ABSTRACT
The growing demand for ubiquitous mobile data services along with the scarcity of spectrum in the sub-6 GHz bands has given rise to the recent interest in developing wireless systems that can exploit the large amount of spectrum available in the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency range. Due to its potential for multi-gigabit and ultra-low latency links, mmWave technology is expected to play a central role in 5th Generation (5G) cellular networks. Overcoming the poor radio propagation and sensitivity to blockages at higher frequencies presents major challenges, which is why much of the current research is focused at the physical layer. However, innovations will be required at all layers of the protocol stack to effectively utilize the large air link capacity and provide the end-to-end performance required by future networks.
Discrete-event network simulation will be an invaluable tool for researchers to evaluate novel 5G protocols and systems from an end-to-end perspective. In this work, we present the first-of-its-kind, open-source framework for modeling mmWave cellular networks in the ns-3 simulator. Channel models are provided along with a configurable physical and MAC-layer implementation, which can be interfaced with the higher-layer protocols and core network model from the ns-3 LTE module to simulate end-to-end connectivity. The framework is demonstrated through several example simulations showing the performance of our custo mmmWave stack.
- S. Rangan, T. S. Rappaport, and E. Erkip, "Millimeter-wave cellular wireless networks: Potentials and challenges," Proc. IEEE, vol. 102, no. 3, pp. 366--385, Mar. 2014.Google ScholarCross Ref
- M. Akdeniz, Y. Liu, M. Samimi, S. Sun, S. Rangan, T. Rappaport, and E. Erkip, "Millimeter wave channel modeling and cellular capacity evaluation," IEEE J. Sel. Areas Commun., vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 1164--1179, June 2014.Google ScholarCross Ref
- "ns-3 Network Simulator," Available at http://www.nsam.org, Feb. 2012.Google Scholar
- M. Mezzavilla, S. Dutta, M. Zhang, M. R. Akdeniz, and S. Rangan, "5G mmwave module for the ns-3 network simulator," in Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Wireless and Mobile Systems (MSWiM '15), Nov. 2015, pp. 283--290. Google ScholarDigital Library
- "LTE-EPC Network Simulator," Available at http://iptechwiki.cttc.es/LTE-EPC_Network_Simulator_(LENA).Google Scholar
- "The LENA ns-3 LTE Module Documentation," Available at http://iptechwiki.cttc.es/LTE-EPC_Network_Simulator_(LENA).Google Scholar
- Z. Pi and F. Khan, "System design and network architecture for a millimeter-wave mobile broadband MMB system," in Proc. IEEE Sarnoff Symposium, May 2011.Google ScholarCross Ref
- A. Ghosh, T. A. Thomas, M. C. Cudak, R. Ratasuk, P. Moorut, F. W. Vook, T. S. Rappaport, J. G. R. MacCartney, S. Sun, and S. Nie, "Millimeter-wave enhanced local area systems: A high-data-rate approach for future wireless networks," IEEE J. Sel. Areas in Comm., vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 1152--1163, June 2014.Google ScholarCross Ref
- T. Levanen, J. Pirskanen, and M. Valkama, "Radio interface design for ultra-low latency millimeter-wave communications in 5G era," in Proc. IEEE Globecom Workshops (Gc Wkshps), Dec. 2014, pp. 1420--1426.Google ScholarCross Ref
- S. Dutta, M. Mezzavilla, R. Ford, M. Zhang, S. Rangan, and M. Zorzi, "Frame structure design and analysis for millimeter wave cellular systems, to appear in Proceedings of the European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC 2016)," Jun. 2016.Google Scholar
- P. Popovski, V. Brau, H.-P. Mayer, P. Fertl, Z. Ren, D. Gonzales-Serrano, E. G. Ström, T. Svensson, H. Taoka, P. Agyapong et al., "EU FP7 INFSO-ICT-317669 METIS, D1.1: Scenarios, requirements and KPIs for 5G mobile and wireless system," 2013.Google Scholar
- P. Kela, M. Costa, J. Salmi, K. Leppanen, J. Turkka, T. Hiltunen, and M. Hronec, "A novel radio frame structure for 5G dense outdoor radio access networks," in Proc. IEEE 81st Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC Spring), May 2015, pp. 1--6.Google Scholar
- M. Mezzavilla, M. Miozzo, M. Rossi, N. Baldo, and M. Zorzi, "A lightweight and accurate link abstraction model for the simulation of lte networks in ns-3," in Proceedings of the 15th ACM International Conference on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Wireless and Mobile Systems (MSWiM '12), Oct. 2012, pp. 55--60. Google ScholarDigital Library
- "ns-3 module for simulating mmwave-based cellular systems," Available at https://github.com/mmezzavilla/ns3-mmwave.Google Scholar
- A Framework for End-to-End Evaluation of 5G mmWave Cellular Networks in ns-3
Recommendations
ns-3 Implementation of the 3GPP MIMO Channel Model for Frequency Spectrum above 6 GHz
WNS3 '17: Proceedings of the 2017 Workshop on ns-3Communications at mmWave frequencies will be a key enabler for the next generation of cellular networks, due to the multi-Gbps rate that can be achieved. However, before this technology can be widely adopted, there are still several problems that must ...
5G MmWave Module for the ns-3 Network Simulator
MSWiM '15: Proceedings of the 18th ACM International Conference on Modeling, Analysis and Simulation of Wireless and Mobile SystemsThe increasing demand of data, along with the spectrum scarcity, are motivating a urgent shift towards exploiting new bands. This is the main reason behind identifying mmWaves as the key disruptive enabling technology for 5G cellular networks. Indeed, ...
Integration of carrier aggregation and dual connectivity for the ns-3 mmWave module
WNS3 '18: Proceedings of the 2018 Workshop on ns-3Thanks to the wide availability of bandwidth, the millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies will potentially provide very high data rates to mobile users in next generation 5G cellular networks. However, mmWave links suffer from high isotropic pathloss and ...
Comments