mmWave: Millimeter-wave (mmWave) transmission in 5G systems

A key direction in the development of fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks is the use of high-frequency “millimeter-wave” (mmWave) bands with carrier frequencies from 24 to 73 GHz. Compared to the commonly used cellular frequency bands up to 6 GHz, millimeter-wave bands offer much wider channels which can significantly increase network throughput. However, radio waves in such a high-frequency range have poor obstacle penetration and are highly susceptible to attenuation due to atmospheric effects and precipitation which can lead to significant decrease of data transmission rates. This may negatively impact many modern mobile and industrial applications which require low latency and high throughput for proper operation. Therefore, developing new methods to improve 5G network performance in mmWave bands is highly relevant.

The Wireless Networks Laboratory team has proposed and studied several solutions that improve quality of service for 5G users under frequent variations in mmWave channel quality. In particular, the laboratory conducted an extensive analysis of solutions aimed at enhancing the performance of the TCP transport protocol, widely used in the Internet for reliable data transmission, and provided recommendations for implementation and configuration of the studied solutions in 5G systems. The laboratory also developed algorithms for balancing real-time traffic (e.g., virtual reality) and broadband traffic (e.g., large file and web page transmission) which distribute user data and channel resources between two base stations, one operating in the mmWave band and the other in the sub-6 GHz band. It was shown that the virtual reality traffic balancing algorithm doubles network capacity, while the broadband traffic resource scheduling algorithm increases overall network throughput by 20%. The developed method of using two base stations for serving various types of traffic in 5G systems was granted a patent.

Currently, the Wireless Networks Laboratory is working on new data transmission management algorithms for 5G systems operating in the mmWave band, as well as solutions for 5G non-terrestrial networks (NTN) where the mmWave band is used for high-speed directional data transmission via satellites alongside with the sub-6 GHz frequency band.

List of relevant papers:


      2024
    1. Evgeny Khorov, Artem Krasilov, Maksim Susloparov. Boosting XR Capacity with Multi-Band Multi-Connectivity in 5G Systems. //IEEE Communications Letters. – 2024. https://doi.org/10.1109/LCOMM.2024.3428628.

      2. 2023
    2. Evgeny Khorov, Artem Krasilov, Maksim Susloparov, L. Kong. Boosting TCP & QUIC Performance in mmWave, Terahertz, and Lightwave Wireless Networks: A Survey. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 2862-2891. https://doi.org/10.1109/COMST.2023.3301820.