Millimeter Wave Cellular Networks: A MAC Layer Perspective

TLDR

Millimeter‑wave bands promise multigigabit wireless access but require many antennas for high directivity, leading to noise‑limited operation and fundamentally different design constraints than legacy networks. The study investigates how highly directional links affect the design of an efficient MAC layer. The authors analyze MAC challenges such as synchronization, random access, handover, channelization, interference management, scheduling, and association. The authors deliver an integrated perspective on MAC issues, uncovering new challenges and tradeoffs and proposing novel insights and solutions.

Abstract

The millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency band is seen as a key enabler of multigigabit wireless access in future cellular networks. In order to overcome the propagation challenges, mmWave systems use a large number of antenna elements both at the base station and at the user equipment, which leads to high directivity gains, fully directional communications, and possible noise-limited operations. The fundamental differences between mmWave networks and traditional ones challenge the classical design constraints, objectives, and available degrees of freedom. This paper addresses the implications that highly directional communication has on the design of an efficient medium access control (MAC) layer. The paper discusses key MAC layer issues, such as synchronization, random access, handover, channelization, interference management, scheduling, and association. This paper provides an integrated view on MAC layer issues for cellular networks, identifies new challenges and tradeoffs, and provides novel insights and solution approaches.