# Dual-Band Fading Multiple Access Relay Channels

## TL;DR

This paper analyzes dual-band relay channels in 5G, focusing on how mm-wave directional links complement microwave links, characterizing capacity, power allocation, and optimal transmission modes for improved uplink performance.

## Contribution

It introduces a capacity characterization and power allocation scheme for dual-band MARCs with directional mm-wave links, offering practical insights for 5G uplink optimization.

## Key findings

- Capacity is partially characterized for near-relay sources.
- Power allocation schemes adapt to channel conditions for sum-rate maximization.
- Optimal link powers exhibit specific properties that enhance performance.

## Abstract

Relay cooperation and integrated microwave and millimeter-wave (mm-wave) dual-band communication are likely to play key roles in 5G. In this paper, we study a two-user uplink scenario in such dual-bands, modeled as a multiple-access relay channel (MARC), where two sources communicate to a destination assisted by a relay. However, unlike the microwave band, transmitters in the mm-wave band must employ highly directional antenna arrays to combat the ill effects of severe path-loss and small wavelength. The resulting mm-wave links are point-to-point and highly directional, and are thus used to complement the microwave band by transmitting to a specific receiver. For such MARCs, the capacity is partially characterized for sources that are near the relay in a joint sense over both bands. We then study the impact of the mm-wave spectrum on the performance of such MARCs by characterizing the transmit power allocation scheme for phase faded mm-wave links that maximizes the sum-rate under a total power budget. The resulting scheme adapts the link transmission powers to channel conditions by transmitting in different modes, and all such modes and corresponding conditions are characterized. Finally, we study the properties of the optimal link powers and derive practical insights.