Smart-device-to-smart-device communications: part I [Guest editorial]

Shahid Mumtaz, Lie-liang Yang, Chonggang Wang, Fumiyuki Adachi, Najah Ali
2014 IEEE Communications Magazine  
GUEST EDITORIAL s telecom operators are struggling to accommodate the existing demands of mobile users, new data consuming applications are emerging in the daily routines of mobile users (e.g., proximity-aware services). Moreover, 4G cellular technologies (WiMAX and LTE-A), which have extremely efficient physical and MAC layer performance, are still lagging behind mobile users' booming data demand. One of the most promising approaches to boost mobile capacity is to reuse efficiently existing
more » ... quency bands. This can be accomplished by several options, such as densification of the base stations and deployment of small cells underlying the conventional cellular networks, and using cognitive radio and spectrum sharing. Device to-device (D2D) communication is one such paradigm that appears to be a promising component in the next generation cellular technologies. In fact, a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) study group is investigating D2D communications in cellular networks. D2D communication uses cellular spectrum (license band) supported by a cellular infrastructure and promises three types of gain: the proximity of user equipment (UE) may allow extremely high bit rates, low delays, and low energy consumption; the reuse gain implies that radio resources may be simultaneously used by cellular as well as D2D links, tightening the reuse factor, even on reuse-1 system; finally, the hop gain refers to using both uplink and downlink resources when communicating via the access point in the cellular mode. Moreover, D2D communication may extend the cellular coverage and facilitate new types of wireless peer-to-peer services and at the same time increase the energy efficiency of communication. It is clear that D2D can offer a palette of interesting colors to paint new business opportunities for mobile stakeholders, promoting its candidacy for a next generation wireless communication system. This Feature Topic of IEEE Communications Magazine includes different aspects on smart D2D communication ranging from smart radio protocols to energy-efficient networking topologies, including deployment strategies and lightweight security. This topic intends to bring together all mobile stakeholders, academic and industry, to identify and promote technical challenges and recent results related to D2D communication. This theme reflected in the very large number of papers (37 were submitted, out of which we have selected top 14 research articles); therefore, this Feature Topic is divided into two parts. In the first article of Part I, "Cellular Traffic Offloading onto Network-Assisted Device-to-Device Connections" by Andreev Sergey et al., the authors detail the vision of integrating managed D2D communications into current cellular technology to overcome the limitations of WiFi. The authors also quantify the estimated network performance gains from offloading cellular traffic onto D2D connections. The authors' analyses are based on an advanced system-level simulation toolkit that captures the relevant details of the network environment, and on a detailed characterization of dynamic D2D communications based on stochastic geometry. The authors conclude that D2D communications provide a significant boost to network capacity as well as user energy efficiency and quality of service perception. In the second article, "Novel Concepts for Device-to-Device Communication Using Network Coding" by Daniel Lucani et al., the authors discuss the potential and shortcomings of D2D communication as proposed today, advocating for the use of network coding as an enabling technology for enhanced security and communication efficiency, allowing for smarter D2D systems. In the third article, "An Overview of 3GPP Device-to-Device Proximity Services" by Xingqin Lin et al., the authors provide an overview of D2D standardization activities in 3GPP, identify outstanding technical challenges, draw lessons from initial evaluation studies, and summarize best practices in the design of a D2D-enabled air interface for LTE-based cellular networks. In the fourth article, "Device-to-Device Communications in Cellular Networks" by Daquan Feng et al., the authors discuss the basic concepts of D2D communications, existing fundamental works on D2D communications, and some potential research topics and challenges. In the fifth article, "Relay-by-Smartphone: Realizing Multihop Device-to-Device Communications" by Masaya Ito et al., the authors propose the concept of multihop D2D communication network systems, which is applicable to different wireless technologies, and clarify the requirements for open issues in such systems. In the sixth article, "Secure Device-to-Device Communication in LTE-A" by Muhammad Alam et al., the authors intend to provide an overview of the security architecture, threads, and requirements. Based on these requirements, the authors propose several potential solutions by reusing the existing
doi:10.1109/mcom.2014.6807942 fatcat:ujqdyy4bmre37jiai5fjxxcjhu