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. 2021 Feb 16;21(4):1372.
doi: 10.3390/s21041372.

A Two-Hop mmWave MIMO NR-Relay Nodes to Enhance the Average System Throughput and BER in Outdoor-to-Indoor Environments

Randy Verdecia-Peña  1   2 , José I Alonso  1   2
Affiliations

A Two-Hop mmWave MIMO NR-Relay Nodes to Enhance the Average System Throughput and BER in Outdoor-to-Indoor Environments

Randy Verdecia-Peña et al. Sensors (Basel). .

Abstract

Millimeter-Wave (mmWave) bands are receiving enormous attention in 5G mobile communications, due to the capability to provide a multi-gigabit transmission rate. In this paper, a two-hop architecture for 5G communications with the capacity to support high end-to-end performance due to the use of Relay Nodes (RNs) in mmWave-bands is presented. One of the novelties of the paper is the implementation of Amplify-and-Forward (A&F) and Decode-and-Forward (D&F) RNs along with a mmWave-band transceiver chain (Tx/Rx). In addition, two approaches for channel estimation were implemented at the D&F RN for decoding the backhaul link. One of them assumes complete knowledge of the channel (PCE), and the other one performs the channel estimation through Least Square (LS) estimator. A large number of simulations, using MATLABTM and SimulinkTM software, were performed to verify the potential benefits of the proposal two-hop 5G architecture in an outdoor-to-indoor scenario. The main novelty in performing these simulations is the use of signals with 5G features, as DL-SCH transport channel coding, PDSCH generation, and SS Burst generation, which is another of the main contributions of the paper. On the other hand, mmWave transmitter and receiver chains were designed and implemented with off-the shelf components. The simulations show that the two-hop network substantially improves the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Bit Error Rate (BER), and Throughput, in the communications between the logical 5G Radio Node (gNodeB), and the New Radio User Equipment (NR-UE). For example, a throughput improvement of 22 Mbps is obtained when a 4 × 4 × 2 MIMO D&F with LS architecture is used versus a SISO D&F with PCE architecture for Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) = 20 dB and 64-QAM signal. This improvement reaches 96 Mbps if a 256-QAM signal is considered. The improvement in BER is 11 dB and 10.5 dB, respectively, for both cases. This work also shows that the obtained results with D&F RNs are better than with A&F RNs. For example, an improvement of 17 Mbps in the use of SISO D&F with LS vs. SISO A&F, for the 64-QAM signal is obtained. Besides, this paper constitutes a first step to the implementation of a mmWave MIMO 5G cooperative network platform.

Keywords: millimeter-wave; new radio amplify-and-forward; new radio decode-and-forward.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
MIMO Millimeter-Wave (mmWave) downlink New Radio (NR)-Relay Node (RN) structure.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Baseband gNodeB structure.
Figure 3
Figure 3
mmWave MIMO NR Decode-and-Forward (D&F) Relay Node (RN) structure.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Outdoor-to-Indoor environment scenario with mmWave MIMO NR-RN.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Decode-and-Forward (D&F) mmWave NR-RN processing blocks.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Subsystems of the mmWave transmitter chain (FR2−Tx).
Figure 7
Figure 7
Subsystems of the mmWave receiver chain (FR2−Rx).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Spectrum of the input and output of the mmWave RF transmitter chain.
Figure 9
Figure 9
Spectrum of the input and output of the mmWave RF receiver chain.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Bit Error Rate (BER) vs. Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) of the cooperative system; 64-QAM signal.
Figure 11
Figure 11
BER vs. SNR of the cooperative system; 256-QAM signal.
Figure 12
Figure 12
Throughput vs. SNR of the cooperative system; 64-QAM signal.
Figure 13
Figure 13
Throughput vs. SNR of the cooperative system; 256-QAM signal.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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