Performance Analysis of Fifth-Generation Cellular Uplink

TL;DR

This paper provides a detailed analysis of 5G cellular uplink performance, focusing on millimeter-wave propagation, antenna directionality, and base station densification, highlighting their impacts and benefits.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis model that incorporates real base-station topologies and millimeter-wave channel characteristics for 5G uplink performance evaluation.

Findings

Base-station densification improves uplink coverage.

Directional sectorization enhances signal quality.

Frequency hopping mitigates interference and improves reliability.

Abstract

Fifth-generation cellular networks are expected to exhibit at least three primary physical-layer differences relative to fourth-generation ones: millimeter-wave propagation, antenna-array directionality, and densification of base stations. In this paper, the effects of these differences on the performance of single-carrier frequency-domain multiple-access uplink systems with frequency hopping are assessed. A new analysis, which is much more detailed than any other in the existing literature and accommodates actual base-station topologies, captures the primary features of uplink communications. Distance-dependent power-law, shadowing, and fading models based on millimeter-wave measurements are introduced. The beneficial effects of base-station densification, highly directional sectorization, and frequency hopping are illustrated.