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©2022 IEEE. Reprinted, with permission, from Rezazadeh, F., Zanzi, L., Devoti, F. et.al. On the Specialization of FDRL Agents for Scalable and Distributed 6G RAN Slicing Orchestration. IEEE Transactions on vehicular technology (Online) October 2022, Network slicing enables multiple virtual networks to be instantiated and customized to meet heterogeneous use case requirements over 5G and beyond network deployments. However, most of the solutions available today face scalability issues when considering many slices, due to centralized controllers requiring a holistic view of the resource availability and consumption over different networking domains. In order to tackle this challenge, we design a hierarchical architecture to manage network slices resources in a federated manner. Driven by the rapid evolution of deep reinforcement learning (DRL) schemes and the Open RAN (O-RAN) paradigm, we propose a set of traffic-aware local decision agents (DAs) dynamically placed in the radio access network (RAN). These federated decision entities tailor their resource allocation policy according to the long-term dynamics of the underlying traffic, defining specialized clusters that enable faster training and communication overhead reduction. Indeed, aided by a traffic-aware agent selection algorithm, our proposed Federated DRL approach provides higher resource efficiency than benchmark solutions by quickly reacting to end-user mobility patterns and reducing costly interactions with centralized controllers, Peer Reviewed, Preprint

Energy conservation is a critical issue regarding wireless mobile ad hoc networks, since the nodes are battery restrained and the depletion of their power defines the lifetime of the network. In this work a mechanism for energy saving and timely delivery of data packets is incorporated into the route discovery phase to select paths with lower cost. The proposed algorithm utilizes two metrics: residual energy and queue length at each node. Buffer information is considered as a traffic load characteristic and its use is twofold: limitation of battery power consumption and end-to-end delay. A simulation-based performance comparison between a routing ad hoc protocol and its modified energy and delay-constrained version demonstrates that the latter one improves system performance for certain network scenarios., Peer Reviewed

A type II hybrid automatic repeat request scheme is considered as a retransmission strategy in a direct-sequence code-division multiple-access packet mobile radio network. An analysis based on equilibrium point analysis is presented to model the behavior of the system in a message-based traffic generation model. A simulation approach is introduced to validate the proposed analytical model, obtaining results that closely match those derived theoretically., Peer Reviewed

In this paper, an inhibit sense multiple access–direct sequence/code division multiple access (ISMA-DS/CDMA) medium access control protocol for a packet transmission mobile radio network is presented. The main feature of this protocol is its ability to retain the inherent flexibility of random access protocols while at the same time reducing to some extent the randomness in the access in order to increase the system capacity. In this framework, the protocol is presented together with some adaptive mechanisms that improve the protocol performance by means of regulating the access and varying the transmission bit rate according to the channel load that is broadcast by the base station. As a result, an adaptive bit rate algorithm is presented that reaches a throughput value close to the theoretical maximum., Peer Reviewed

In the context of third-generation (3G) systems a mix of services with different requirements are expected. Consequently, packet scheduling mechanisms for quality of service (QoS) guarantees will play a key role. This paper proposes a new scheduling strategy that makes consistent the target quality in the radio link with the priority level assigned to each user. The performance of such a strategy is assessed by system level simulations and, in order to gain more insight into the difficulties of this optimization problem, it is compared to other alternatives. This work is part of the Wineglass project, within the Fifth Framework Program of the European Commission (IST), where a real time demonstrator including the radio resource management tasks is being developed. Thus, an implementation approach of the proposed scheduling is also described. The implementation is based on lookup tables and this approach is validated by simulation., Peer Reviewed

Analytic expressions have been derived for the probability density functions of the total signal-to-interference ratio when considering mixed-type interference sources in the reverse link of a DS/CDMA packet radio system with Rayleigh fading. Four different scenarios were studied, and the corresponding expressions are presented for each situation. The users are divided into two groups: those that apply a closed-loop power control and those that only use an open-loop power control. By making use of these expressions, the mean block error probability is derived as a function of the number of total interfering users in each group., Peer Reviewed

Code-division multiple-access (CDMA) schemes appear to be very promising access techniques for coping with the requirements of third-generation mobile systems, mainly because of their flexibility. This paper proposes an adaptive S-ALOHA DS-CDMA access scheme as a method for integrating nonreal-time (i.e., Internet applications) and real-time (i.e., voice) services in a multicell scenario by exploiting the potentials of CDMA under time-varying channel load conditions. The adaptive component makes data terminals autonomously change their transmission rate according to the total (voice+data) channel occupancy, so that the minimum possible data delay, which can be analytically obtained by defining a birth-death process, is almost always achieved. Moreover, by means of a simplified cellular model, the proposed algorithm revealed the same behavior, i.e., it tries to select the most suitable transmission rate at any time slot, when it is affected by intercell interference and even by power control imperfections. Finally, in order to gain more insight into the potentials of such an access strategy, the adaptive S-ALOHA CDMA scheme is then compared to a reservation time-division multiple-access (TDMA)-based protocol (PRMA++), showing the benefits of the CDMA-based solution in terms of capacity, flexibility, and data delay performance., Peer Reviewed

This paper presents and analyzes a new near-optimum medium access control (MAC) protocol. The proposed access scheme is suitable for a CDMA mobile communication environment, and keeps under control and upper bounded the number of simultaneous transmissions. It has a delay performance approaching that of an ideal optimum M/M/K system, where K is the number of spreading codes being used (maximum number of simultaneous transmissions). The protocol is a free random access protocol when the traffic load is light, and switches smoothly and automatically to a reservation protocol when traffic load becomes heavier. It is based on distributed queues and a collision resolution algorithm. Moreover, a physical receiver structure is proposed and analyzed in order to preserve the robustness of the protocol in a wireless link. The results obtained show that the protocol outperforms other well known medium access protocols in terms of stability and delay, even when taking into account the loss caused by channel propagation conditions., Peer Reviewed

Peer Reviewed

This paper presents a novel adaptive direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS-CDMA) slotted-ALOHA (S-ALOHA) packet random-access scheme with transmitter-based spreading codes for mobiles. It is aimed at improving throughput and message delay delivery when traffic load values below the saturation point of the conventional DS-CDMA S-ALOHA system are sensed in the channel. For this purpose, one mobile-station (MS) and two base-station (BS)-assisted algorithms are envisaged to control the change of the transmission rate according to the traffic load. These algorithms revealed that the optimum behavior, obtained using a Markov chain model, may almost be reached at a low-complexity cost. A traffic model based on a realistic statistical length distribution of the messages illustrates how the delay delivery can be greatly reduced with the proposed algorithms. Finally, the impact of forward-error-correction (FEC) coding on the adaptive system is also studied., Peer Reviewed

Spatial diversity is an attractive technology to cope with the fading channel encountered in mobile communications. This paper presents novel closed analytical expressions of the bit-error rate (BER) achievable in a coherent binary phase-shift-keying (CBPSK) direct-sequence code-division multiple-access (DS/CDMA) system for any power delay profile and for either postdetection selection or maximal ratio combining (MRC). In particular, expressions for the cutoff rate Ro and for its related parameter D are also formulated in order to assess the system performance under the consideration of some channel coding schemes. Finally, an exemplary study is carried out in order to illustrate the behavior of a realistic space-diversity code-division multiple-access (CDMA) system according to the analytical expressions that have been derived, Peer Reviewed

This paper analyzes the performance of blind equalization using the complex cepstrum of third-order moments applied to 4-QAM time division multiple access (TDMA) indoor radio communication systems. In particular, we have modeled a dispersive indoor channel with Rice statistics. We used the blind algorithms to estimate the channel-impulse response, and from this, we computed the equalizer coefficients using a classical minimum mean square error (MMSE) algorithm. In order to evaluate the system performance, we calculated the bit error rate (BER) of a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) that uses a tricepstrum algorithm to estimate the channel-impulse response. The results are compared with those obtained using a least sum of square errors (LSSE) algorithm as a channel estimator and considering the exact channel response. The results obtained show that this kind of blind equalizer performs better than the more classically trained equalizer when Rice channels with a strong direct path and signal-to-noise ratios (SNR’s) lower than 20 dB are taken into account. However, some problems relating to the length of time needed for convergence must be solved., Peer Reviewed

In this paper, the bit error rate (BER) performance of predetection diversity trellis coded multilevel phase shift keying (TCM-MPSK) and postdetection diversity trellis coded multilevel differential phase shift keying (TCM-MDPSK), transmitted over a Rayleigh fading channel is presented. Novel analytical upper bounds using the transfer function bounding technique are obtained and illustrated by several numerical examples. A new asymptotically tight upper bound for the maximal ratio combining (MRC) diversity schemes is also derived. In order to analyze practical TCM schemes (four or more states), only trellis codes holding uniform error property (UEP) and uniform distance property (UDP) are considered, enabling the encoder transfer function to be obtained from a modified state transition diagram, having no more states than the encoder itself. Monte-Carlo simulation results, which are more indicative of the exact system performance, are also given., Peer Reviewed

The development of high-quality digital mobile radio systems has become a major goal in the field of digital communications. The possibility of providing speech and data services free of wire constrictions in different environments is a very attractive proposition, supported by means of the personal communications network (PCN) concept. The aim of the present article is to analyze the behavior of different receiver structures for such systems in order to obtain some clues to be used in designing the next generation of mobile systems. These systems have to provide both low- and high-data-rate services (up to 1 Mb/s) and be efficient in environments where a high density of traffic is generated. Moreover, as the carrier frequencies will range between 1 and 4 GHz, and the vehicle speed can be as high as 400 km/hr (e.g., high-speed trains), large Doppler frequency values must be coped with. Under certain conditions, diversity techniques perform better than equalization techniques in typical mobile radio environments., Peer Reviewed

Energy conservation is a critical issue regarding wireless mobile ad hoc networks, since the nodes are battery restrained and the depletion of their power defines the lifetime of the network. In this work a mechanism for energy saving and timely delivery of data packets is incorporated into the route discovery phase to select paths with lower cost. The proposed algorithm utilizes two metrics: residual energy and queue length at each node. Buffer information is considered as a traffic load characteristic and its use is twofold: limitation of battery power consumption and end-to-end delay. A simulation-based performance comparison between a routing ad hoc protocol and its modified energy and delay-constrained version demonstrates that the latter one improves system performance for certain network scenarios., Peer reviewed