Impact of Dual Connectivity and Channel Hardening in 5G Networks with Different Resource Allocation Strategies

Victor Farias Monteiro, Francisco R. P. Cavalcanti, Igor M. Guerreiro, Tarcisio F. Maciel

DOI: 10.14209/sbrt.2022.1570812747

Evento: XL Simpósio Brasileiro de Telecomunicações e Processamento de Sinais (SBrT2022)

Keywords: Channel Hardening Dual Connectivity Resource Allocation

Abstract

Considering 5G networks with multi-connectivity capability and deploying large antenna arrays operating in mmWaves, this paper performs two numerical analyses. In the first one, it is assumed that, increasing the number of antenna elements in the transmitter, the channel variations reduce, i.e., the channel "hardens". In the considered scenario, this assumption implies almost no loss of performance, allowing the aggregation of measurement reports of different resources, which simplifies Radio Resource Allocation (RRA). The second numerical analysis investigates the adoption of two multi-connectivity approaches: Dual Connectivity (DC) and Fast-RAT Scheduling (FS). In DC, the user plane can be simultaneously connected to two radio access technologies, while, in FS, it can be connected to only one at a time. The presented analyses show that both approaches can improve the network performance, depending on the adopted RRA strategy and key performance indicators of interest.

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