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ABSTRACT
Center
femtocell
{n, }SU-FPU
{n, }SU-SU
}SU-SU
{n,
62
INTRODUCTION
The need for anytime-anywhere service access
over wireless networks has spurred a great
demand for wireless radio resources. Additionally, the emerging web-based services such as
YouTube and Facebook require broadband
access due to multimedia-rich content. Hence,
efficient spectrum utilization is of great concern
for two reasons: providing spectrum opportunities for emergent technologies/services and utilizing already crowded lower frequency bands
with better spectrum efficacy. Dynamic spectrum
access (DSA) facilitates the so-called cognitive
radio (CR) devices to analyze the spectrum
bands and access them if unoccupied until the
arrival of an incumbent transmitter. In CR terminology, a primary user (PU) refers to a user
who has higher priority or legacy rights for utilizing a specific part of the spectrum, whereas a
secondary user (SU) equipped with CR exploits
the unused parts of this spectrum in such a way
that PU communications are not disturbed.
Since a PU has the right to access the spectrum
(depending on its contract with its service
provider) whenever it needs, a CR node must
vacate those primary bands as fast as possible.
Otherwise it would harm the primary communications, which is a violation of CR operation
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Operator
User
Advantages
Femtocell
Cognitive
radio
Disadvantages
Advantages
Better coverage/capacity
Cost optimization
Higher subscriber satisfaction
Higher macrocell reliability
Better spatial correlation
between capacity need and
infrastructure
Deployment cost
Management complexity
More complicated
network evolution
Security issues due to IP
connectivity
QoS issues due to IP
back-hauling
Low-power
transmission (longer
battery lifetime)
Higher bandwidth
Better indoor signal
reception
Cheaper services
Provision of PU
transparent services
SU/PU differentiation
Resource management
and allocation
Autonomous and
adaptive operation
Environment aware
spectrum access
Cheaper services
Multi-mode operation
Disadvantages
Deployment and
operational costs
Burden on broadband
connection for backhauling
Table 1. Advantages and disadvantages of CR and femtocells from the viewpoints of operator and user.
tackle with these issues provides cost efficiency
and ease of deployment. Home base stations
(i.e., femtocells), are posed to be a good candidate as the supporting infrastructure in that
regard. Deployed at the homes or small-area
public places, femtocells are low-power plugand-play base stations providing connectivity to
the cellular operators network via a broadband
connection such as digital subscriber line (DSL)
or cable [3]. The femtocell concept has been
developed to improve spatial coverage with
increasing reuse at the expense of affordable
complexity and cost. Considering the fact that
around 40 percent of mobile usage originates
from homes, femtocells providing better user
experience indoors are attracting the interest of
various parties [4]. The main premise behind the
femtocell is to increase transmitter-to-receiver
proximity in order to improve system capacity
via higher-quality links and more spatial reuse
[5], thereby providing a cost-effective solution
for better user experience against poor indoor
coverage. However, this requires the deployment
of additional infrastructure and network changes.
In this work we define and propose a femtocell-based CR architecture for enabling multitiered opportunistic access in next-generation
cellular broadband wireless systems. This architecture combines the conventional femtocell idea
with infrastructure-based overlay cognitive radio
network (CRN) paradigm. Table 1 summarizes
the challenges and opportunities of these two
concepts from both the network operators and
users perspective. For the former, the most significant advantage of femtocells is the better
indoor coverage and increased spectral efficiency
leading to reduced capital and operational costs.
However, this necessitates a more complicated
network structure with quality of service (QoS)
and security issues. For the user, femtocells provide higher bandwidth with lower power consumption at the cost of new device installment
and a broadband backhaul connectivity. Similarly, application of DSA in CRs increases the
spectral efficiency and eases the penetration of
new operators with novel wireless services. For
the user, CR facilitates more autonomous opera-
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Femtocell BS based
on a software
defined radio
architecture can
update both its
firmware and
application software,
and thereby can
adapt to changing
environment and
network
requirements.
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Incumbent mobile
network
CF subnetwork
(CFS)
CF
gateway
Core network
Data repository
(sessions, profiles,
context, ...)
CFBSi
CFS
connector
Radio access
network
IP backhaul
CFBS
PUfemto
Cellular WAN
BS
SUfemto
SUx
PUmacro
WRAN BS
Figure 1. Cognitive femtocell network architecture with network subsystems, SUs and PUs (femtocell and
macrocell) having various access modes.
a separate cognitive femtocell subnetwork (CFS)
for infrastructure resident functionalities such as
user rights, service provisioning, profile management, and charging in the cognitive domain.
In order to control interference on the femtocells in the vicinity and underlaying macrocell, a
CFBS constructs the radio environment map
(REM) of the femtocell by sensing its operating
environment. Since the femtocell coverage
region is on the order of tens of meters, the
interference per frequency band can be assumed
to be uniform in its coverage region due to spatial correlation. In order to serve SUs with a service request, CFBS authorizes the SUs with
low-bit-rate control signaling via a standard protocol such as Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)
[13]. SUs and CFBS are assumed to be multiradio and multi-interface. For instance, a personal
area network (PAN) interface such as Bluetooth
can be utilized for signaling. The multimode
assumption is realistic due to the wide availability of PAN access on current mobile handsets
and integrated multinetwork access points (APs)
for femtocells. However, a software update in
the handsets for supporting the cognitive mode
is necessary. This update should provide the
required protocol modifications and applicationlevel tools for configuration and management of
this mode by the user.
This architecture is beneficial for both the
femtocell and cognitive operation in different
aspects. Advantages of this system layout are
manifold:
Less SU interference and better spectrum
access due to better sensing capability.
Better spectrum utilization for the incumbent
operator.
New business models where opportunistic
spectrum access is integrated as a primary service.
The incumbent mobile network does not have
to change significantly.
A software update
in the handsets for
supporting the
cognitive mode is
necessary. This
update should
provide the
required protocol
modifications and
application level
tools for
configuration and
management of this
mode by the user.
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Access mode
- Higher capacity
- Higher spectrum efficiency
Conventional
MAN/WAN
Cognitive
MAN/WAN
- Lower energy
consumption
- More reliable sensing
- Finer CR control
- Coverage expansion
- Lower energy
consumption
Conventional
femtocell
Cognitive
femtocell
- Adaptive operation
- Higher throughput
- Better interference
management
- Flexible energy-throughput
trade-off
66
centered at frequency f Hz at time slot i is represented by S(f, i). The state of the channel can be
either busy or idle depending on the measured
energy and PU detection threshold. REM can be
represented as a two-dimensional array as in Fig.
3. The spectrum measurements at time slot t for
the available channels (f1 to fn) are stored in the
REM. Assuming an energy detector as the PU
detection scheme, the CFBS decides on the state
of the channel. The REM also stores the previous measurements in a time window and thereby
the CFBS can exploit this data for learning the
spectral environment. Therefore, this architecture enables the CFBS to predict the PU traffic
activities and allocate channels accordingly.
Finally, the SU can start transmission. The CFBS
enforces policies based on profile for service and
QoS provisioning fetched from the user database
of the CFS operator. After allocating the channels for opportunistic use, the resource usage is
transmitted to the central authority for charging
and monitoring.
After completing its transmission, the SU
releases the channel (Step 4). If a PU reappears
in the channel during the SUs transmission, the
SU is forced to perform spectrum handoff.
Depending on the spectrum availability, it can
be allocated to either another primary or a secondary frequency channel. In this work we do
not address CR MAN/WAN access mechanisms
after SU frequency allocation.
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In this section we provide interference and
throughput performance of cognitive femtocell
networks via system-level simulations in order to
demonstrate the potential benefits described
earlier. We assume that the broadband cellular
network (BWN) operates at 2.1 GHz carrier frequency with channels of 10 MHz bandwidth.
Femtocell users are stationary; therefore, the
channel is assumed to be stationary. A lognormal path loss model is used between every node
in the network. The transmission power P t of
macro-PU, femto-PU, SU, femto-BS, and macroBS are 20, 3.1, 20, 10, and 35 dBm, respectively.
Mobility is not considered in the experiments
since we do not focus on the handover and interfemtocell user management, which is a general
femtocell issue. In the simulation setup we focus
on a single macro-BS with coverage radius rm =
500 m, whereas the femtocell radius is rf = 20 m.
We suppose a frequency reuse factor of 1, which
is the general case for 3G LTE and WiMAX systems.
Figure 4 illustrates the network deployment
model employed in the experiments. The simulation area comprises a two-tiered and tessellated
femtocell distribution. In each femtocell footprint, there are three SUs and three femto-PUs.
There are seven femtocells deployed in a confined region inside the macrocell to simulate a
realistic network setup. These femtocells are
scattered around a center femtocell in a randomized fashion (random distance and angular orientation). The macro-users are spectrally
orthogonal, while the femto-PUs use overlapping
frequencies with them. However, femto-PUs in
the same femtocell use non-overlapping frequen-
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CFBS
SUj
Spectrum
measurements
1
CFS
RangingRegistration
CheckandFetchProfile
OK+Profile
OK
f
Query and
get the getProfile
profile
profile
CR
admission
CR
algorithm
user
DB
2
FreqReq
FreqAlloc
RangingRegistration
t
No
interference
High
interference
Traffic exchanged
4
FreqRel
OK
Figure 3. Access control signaling among the SU, CFBS, and CFS.
PU and macro-PU traffic loads. Figure 5 illustrates the change in the average throughput with
increasing SU Pf. Average throughput is calculated in terms of packets per timeslot and
decreases with increasing Pf in scenario I. However, in scenario II throughput is not affected
since spectrum sensing is driven by the CFBS.
Femto-PU and macro-PU throughput values are
slightly affected in both scenarios. In a low activity case where = 0.3, femto-PU throughput is
6.30 packets/time slot and macro-PU throughput
is 1.29 packets/time slot in both scenarios. In
medium activity and high activity cases ( = 0.6
and = 0.9, respectively), femto-PU throughput
is 12.57 and 18.90 packets/timeslot in scenario I
and scenario II. Similarly, macro-PU throughput
is slightly higher in scenario II compared to scenario I with values 2.81 vs. 2.83 packets/timeslot
for = 0.3 and 4.82 vs. 4.90 for = 0.9.
Next, we investigate the impact of Pd increasing from 0.5 to 0.9 on macro-PU and SU
throughput. In case of low P d values, the SU
fails to detect an ongoing PU transmission and
transmits on an occupied channel. Hence, interference experienced at the macro-PUs increases
directly with the decrease in sensing precision,
thereby resulting in low signal-to-noise ratio
(SNR) at the macro-PUs. In other words, in
these scenarios SUs cause harmful interference
to the macro-PUs such that minimum required
SNR cannot be satisfied for successful packet
reception at macro-PUs. This results in packet
drops, thereby a decrease around five percent in
macro-PU throughput. In scenario I, SU
throughput is slightly higher than in scenario II
since SUs access the spectrum more aggressively.
In scenario II, since sensing is more robust (Pd
= 0.95) and meets the macro-PU restrictions,
throughput barely changes in various settings.
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Cellular WAN BS
Macrocell
Center
femtocell
{n, '}SU-FPU
{n, }SU-FPU
{n, }SU-SU
{n, '}SU-SU
{n, }SU-MPU
CFBS
SU
Macrocell PU
(MPU)
Femtocell PU
(FPU)
Figure 4. Simulation setup with three SUs in center femtocell coverage and the
relevant system parameters.
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18
17
Scenario II
Average SU throughput (packets/time slot)
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16
15
14
13
Scenario I
12
11
=0.3
10
=0.6
9
8
=0.9
0.1
0.15
0.2
0.25
0.3
0.35
SU probability of false alarm (Pf)
0.4
0.45
0.5
CONCLUSION
Wireless broadband access is spreading on all
fronts. Although these access systems address
different requirements, the fundamental requirement is to achieve higher spectral efficiency.
Femtocells are accepted as promising low-cost
and easy-to-deploy candidates for providing
small-area indoor coverage, and thus increasing
spectral efficiency and system capacity. However,
this approach has the drawback of increased
deployment and operational costs in the infrastructure aspect. Another approach to address
the requirements of broadband access is dynamic
spectrum access. Dynamic spectrum access facilitates cognitive radio nodes analyzing the spectrum and accessing the white spaces until the
arrival of licensed users.
In this work we study a femtocell-based cognitive radio scheme in order to provide more
effective dynamic spectrum access and management. In this system the cognitive femtocell network utilizes a new service paradigm and
transforms the main burden, interference management, into the service enabler itself. SUs are
controlled by the femtocell infrastructure to
tackle reliable sensing and service control issues.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work is supported by the State Planning
Organization of Turkey (DPT) under the TAM
Project with grant number DPT-2007K 120610,
and the Scientific and Technological Research
Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) with grant number 109E256.
REFERENCES
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[4] W. Gerhardt and R. Medcalf, Femtocells: Implementing
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BIOGRAPHIES
G RKAN G R (gurgurka@boun.edu.tr) received his B.S.
degree in electrical engineering in 2001 and M.S. degree in
systems and control engineering in 2005, both from
Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey. Currently he is pursuing a Ph.D. degree in computer engineering, and working
as a researcher at the Telematics Research Center (TAM) of
Bogazici University. His research interests include next-generation wireless networks, optimized wireless multimedia
transmission, green communications, and cognitive radio
networks.
SUZAN BAYHAN (bayhan@boun.edu.tr) received her B.S. and
M.S. degrees in computer engineering from Bogazici University in 2003 and 2006, respectively. Currently she is a
Ph.D. candidate in computer engineering, and is working
as a researcher at TAM. Her research interests are satellite
networks and cognitive radio networks with an emphasis
on MAC protocol design.
FATIH ALAGZ (alagoz@boun.edu.tr) is an associate professor in the Computer Engineering Department of Bogazici
University. During 20012003 he was with the Department
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, United Arab Emirates University. He obtained his B.Sc. degree in electrical
engineering in 1992 from Middle East Technical University,
Turkey, and his D.Sc. degree in electrical engineering in
2000 from George Washington University. His current
research areas include wireless/mobile/satellite networks
and UWB communications. He has edited various books
and published more than 100 scholarly papers in selected
journals and conferences.