Contextual Combinatorial Beam Management via Online Probing for Multiple Access mmWave Wireless Networks

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel online probing framework for beam management in mmWave wireless networks, optimizing transceiver pairing and beam selection to improve connectivity, bandwidth utilization, and computational efficiency.

Contribution

The paper presents a new Contextual Combinatorial Beam Management (CCBM) framework that leverages online probing and contextual prediction for efficient multi-access beam management in mmWave networks.

Findings

The CCBM framework outperforms existing schemes in multiple performance metrics.

Theoretical analysis confirms the asymptotic optimality of the proposed approach.

Extensive evaluations demonstrate improved bandwidth utilization and reduced computational overheads.

Abstract

Due to the exponential increase in wireless devices and a diversification of network services, unprecedented challenges, such as managing heterogeneous data traffic and massive access demands, have arisen in next-generation wireless networks. To address these challenges, there is a pressing need for the evolution of multiple access schemes with advanced transceivers. Millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication emerges as a promising solution by offering substantial bandwidth and accommodating massive connectivities. Nevertheless, the inherent signaling directionality and susceptibility to blockages pose significant challenges for deploying multiple transceivers with narrow antenna beams. Consequently, beam management becomes imperative for practical network implementations to identify and track the optimal transceiver beam pairs, ensuring maximum received power and maintaining high-quality access service. In this context, we propose a Contextual Combinatorial Beam Management (CCBM) framework tailored for mmWave wireless networks. By leveraging advanced online probing techniques and integrating predicted contextual information, such as dynamic link qualities in spatial-temporal domain, CCBM aims to jointly optimize transceiver pairing and beam selection while balancing the network load. This approach not only facilitates multiple access effectively but also enhances bandwidth utilization and reduces computational overheads for real-time applications. Theoretical analysis establishes the asymptotically optimality of the proposed approach, complemented by extensive evaluation results showcasing the superiority of our framework over other state-of-the-art schemes in multiple dimensions.