Final Report Summary - METOP (MAC and Network Layers Optimization)
Project context and objectives
The main focus of this project is to schedule radio resources for 3G and 4G wireless mobile networks. While the original proposed investigation was concentrated on the uplink in the context of the High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), the actual investigation drifted towards the downlink direction in the context of the High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) as well as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE). While HSUPA is still a topic of interest, HSDPA seems to allow more room for innovation and flexibility from the point of view of research. More importantly, during the course of the investigation, evidence for LTE to be adopted by operators as the future wireless technology was becoming more apparent. Thus, our project gradually placed more emphasis on LTE. It is important to note that the radio interface for LTE is vastly different from those of HSDPA and HSUPA (collectively known as HSPA for short). Such a difference gives rise to a lot of technical challenges and opens up a fertile ground for further research activities. For example, the use of channel feed-back for resource optimisation is not only important for HSPA, but also for LTE. Due to the differences between the two, the characteristics for the LTE feed-back scheme are relatively unexplored. Thus, it was becoming clear to us that the analysis of the channel feed-back for LTE would not only be an interesting but also an important task.
Project results
The achievements of our project so far are divided into three categories: scheduling and optimisation for HSDPA; scheduling and optimisation for LTE; and mathematical analysis on the statistical nature of uplink channel feed-back for LTE. Our project not only opens up opportunities for collaborations between members within our own department at the University of Bedfordshire, but also with Dr. Cyril Leung, a professor in the area of telecommunications at the University of British Columbia, Canada. As demonstrated in our publications so far, our collaboration is proved to be extremely fruitful.
Note, this project was terminated six months after the start of the project. Based on the original plan as outlined in the proposal, we should have finished a literature review and system modelling. However, as the evidence shows, our achievements have far exceeded our original expectations.
The main focus of this project is to schedule radio resources for 3G and 4G wireless mobile networks. While the original proposed investigation was concentrated on the uplink in the context of the High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), the actual investigation drifted towards the downlink direction in the context of the High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) as well as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE). While HSUPA is still a topic of interest, HSDPA seems to allow more room for innovation and flexibility from the point of view of research. More importantly, during the course of the investigation, evidence for LTE to be adopted by operators as the future wireless technology was becoming more apparent. Thus, our project gradually placed more emphasis on LTE. It is important to note that the radio interface for LTE is vastly different from those of HSDPA and HSUPA (collectively known as HSPA for short). Such a difference gives rise to a lot of technical challenges and opens up a fertile ground for further research activities. For example, the use of channel feed-back for resource optimisation is not only important for HSPA, but also for LTE. Due to the differences between the two, the characteristics for the LTE feed-back scheme are relatively unexplored. Thus, it was becoming clear to us that the analysis of the channel feed-back for LTE would not only be an interesting but also an important task.
Project results
The achievements of our project so far are divided into three categories: scheduling and optimisation for HSDPA; scheduling and optimisation for LTE; and mathematical analysis on the statistical nature of uplink channel feed-back for LTE. Our project not only opens up opportunities for collaborations between members within our own department at the University of Bedfordshire, but also with Dr. Cyril Leung, a professor in the area of telecommunications at the University of British Columbia, Canada. As demonstrated in our publications so far, our collaboration is proved to be extremely fruitful.
Note, this project was terminated six months after the start of the project. Based on the original plan as outlined in the proposal, we should have finished a literature review and system modelling. However, as the evidence shows, our achievements have far exceeded our original expectations.