Advanced Wireless Networks, 3rd Edition

Preface

Wireless communications has been developed so far through generations 1G to 4G with exclusive focus on improving the physical layer. This concept has at least two drawbacks: first, wireless channels cannot compete with optical networks when it comes to network capacity; second, the advantages of user mobility have not been emphasized enough. In the scenarios of future dense networks with a significant increase of user terminals and access points, wireless links in the wireless access concept in 5G will become shorter and shorter, asking for more frequent handoffs which jeopardize the reliability of the connections.

A significant part of the future networks will handle Internet of Things and People (IoTP) communications, where sophisticated physical layer solutions cannot be used. Human body implants will use simple solutions. For these reasons there is a common understanding that 5G will be about wireless networks rather than about wireless access to the networks. In the research of the enabling technologies for 5G, different communities focus on different solutions. Small cell technology, mmWave physical layer, cognitive networks, massive MIMO, spectra and infrastructure sharing in multi-operator network management, dynamic network architecture, user provided networks, and so on.

In the design and analysis of these networks a number of powerful analytical tools are used, like: convex, dynamic and stochastic optimization, stochastic geometry, mean field theory, matching ...