Les évolutions technologies mobiles majeures, tels que les réseaux mobiles 3G, HSPA+ et LTE, ont augmenté de façon significative la capacité des données véhiculées sur liaison radio. Alors que les avantages de ces évolutions sont évidents à l’usage, un fait moins connu est que ces améliorations portant principalement sur l’accès radio nécessitent aussi des avancées technologiques dans le réseau de collecte (backhaul) pour supporter cette augmentation de bande passante. Les fournisseurs d’accès Internet (FAI) et les opérateurs de réseau mobile doivent relever un réel défi pour accompagner l’usage des smartphones. Les coûts opérationnels associés aux méthodes traditionnelles de backhaul augmentent plus vite que les revenus générés par les nouveaux services de données. Ceci est particulièrement vrai lorsque le réseau backhaul doit lui-même être construit sur des liens radio. Un tel réseau de backhaul mobile nécessite (i) une gestion de qualité de service (QoS) liée au trafic avec des exigences strictes en matière de délai et de gigue, (ii) une haute disponibilité / fiabilité. Alors que la plupart des FAI et des opérateurs de réseau mobile font état des avantages de mécanismes de redondance et de résilience pour garantir une haute disponibilité, force est de constater que les réseaux actuels sont encore exposés à des indisponibilités. Bien que les causes de ces indisponibilités soient claires, les fluctuations rapides et / ou des pannes imprévues du trafic continuent d’affecter les plus grands opérateurs. Mais ces opérateurs ne pourraient-ils pas mettre en place des modèles et des mécanismes pour améliorer la survie des réseaux pour éviter de telles situations ? Les opérateurs de réseaux mobiles peuvent-ils mettre en place ensemble des solutions à faible coût qui assureraient la disponibilité et la fiabilité des réseaux ? Compte tenu de ce constat, cette thèse vise à : (i) fournir des solutions de backhaul à faible coût ; l’objectif est de construire des réseaux sans fil en ajoutant de nouvelles ressources à la demande plutôt que par sur-dimensionnements, en réponse à un trafic inattendu surgit ou à une défaillance du réseau, afin d’assurer une qualité supérieure de certains services (ii) fournir des communications sans interruption, y compris en cas de défaillance du réseau, mais sans redondance. Un léger focus porte sur l’occurrence de ce problème sur le lien appelé «dernier kilomètre» (last mile). Cette thèse conçoit une nouvelle architecture de réseaux backhaul mobiles et propose une modélisation pour améliorer la survie et la capacité de ces réseaux de manière efficace, sans reposer sur des mécanismes coûteux de redondance passive. Avec ces motivations, nous étudions le problème de partage de ressources d'un réseau de backhaul entre opérateurs concurrents, pour lesquelles un accord de niveau de service (SLA) a été conclu. Ainsi, nous présentons une étude systématique de solutions proposées portant sur une variété d’heuristiques de partage empiriques et d'optimisation des ressources. Dans ce contexte, nous poursuivons par une étude sur un mécanisme de recouvrement après panne qui assure efficacement et à faible coût la protection et la restauration de ressources, permettant aux opérateurs via une fonction basée sur la programmation par contraintes de choisir et établir de nouveaux chemins en fonction des modèles de trafic des clients finaux. Nous illustrons la capacité de survie des réseaux backhaul disposant d’un faible degré de redondance matérielle, par la gestion efficace d’équipements de réseau de backhaul répartis géographiquement et appartenant aux différents opérateurs, en s’appuyant sur des contrôleurs logiquement centralisés mais physiquement distribués, en respectant des contraintes strictes sur la disponibilité et la fiabilité du réseau / Revolutionary mobile technologies, such as high-speed packet access 3G (HSPA+) and LTE, have significantly increased mobile data rate over the radio link. While most of the world looks at this revolution as a blessing to their day-to-day life, a little-known fact is that these improvements over the radio access link results in demanding tremendous improvements in bandwidth on the backhaul network. Having said this, today’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are intemperately impacted as a result of this excessive smartphone usage. The operational costs (OPEX) associated with traditional backhaul methods are rising faster than the revenue generated by the new data services. Building a mobile backhaul network is very different from building a commercial data network. A mobile backhaul network requires (i) QoS-based traffic with strict requirements on delay and jitter (ii) high availability/reliability. While most ISPs and MNOs have promised advantages of redundancy and resilience to guarantee high availability, there is still the specter of failure in today’s networks. The problems of network failures in today’s networks can be quickly but clearly ascertained. The underlying observation is that ISPs and MNOs are still exposed to rapid fluctuations and/or unpredicted breakdowns in traffic; it goes without saying that even the largest operators can be affected. But what if, these operators could now put in place designs and mechanisms to improve network survivability to avoid such occurrences? What if mobile network operators can come up with low-cost backhaul solutions together with ensuring the required availability and reliability in the networks? With this problem statement in-hand, the overarching theme of this dissertation is within the following scopes: (i) to provide low-cost backhaul solutions; the motivation here being able to build networks without over-provisioning and then to bring-in new resources (link capacity/bandwidth) on occasions of unexpected traffic surges as well as on network failure conditions for particularly ensuring premium services (ii) to provide uninterrupted communications even at times of network failure conditions, but without redundancy. Here a slightly greater emphasis is laid on tackling the ‘last-mile’ link failures. The scope of this dissertation is therefore to propose, design and model novel network architectures for improving effective network survivability and network capacity, at the same time by eliminating network-wide redundancy, adopted within the context of mobile backhaul networks. Motivated by this, we study the problem of how to share the available resources of a backhaul network among its competitors, with whom a Service Level Agreement (SLA) has been concluded. Thus, we present a systematic study of our proposed solutions focusing on a variety of empirical resource sharing heuristics and optimization frameworks. With this background, our work extends towards a novel fault restoration framework which can cost-effectively provide protection and restoration for the operators, enabling them with a parameterized objective function to choose desired paths based on traffic patterns of their end-customers. We then illustrate the survivability of backhaul networks with reduced amount of physical redundancy, by effectively managing geographically distributed backhaul network equipments which belong to different MNOs using ‘logically-centralized’ physically-distributed controllers, while meeting strict constraints on network availability and reliability

L’essentiel des travaux de cette thèse porte sur les réseaux de collectes de données sans fil. Nous avons étudié différents problèmes d’optimisation dans ces réseaux qui représentent de vrais challenges pour les industriels du secteur. Le premier problème porte sur l’allocation de capacités sur les liens à coût minimum. Il a été résolu par une approche de programmation linéaire avec génération de colonnes. Notre modèle permet de résoudre des problèmes de grandes tailles. Nous avons ensuite étudié le problème du partage d’infrastructure réseau entre opérateurs virtuels avec comme objectif de maximiser les revenus de l’opérateur de l’infrastructure physique tout en satisfaisant les demandes et les contraintes de qualité de service des opérateurs virtuels clients du réseau. Dans ce contexte, nous avons proposé une formulation robuste du problème en programmation linéaire en nombres entiers mixte. Un autre point de dépenses dans ce type de réseau est la consommation d’énergie. Nous avons proposé une solution robuste, de routage basée sur la consommation d’énergie du réseau. Notre solution a été formulée en utilisant un programme linéaire en nombre entiers mixte. Nous avons aussi proposé des heuristiques afin de trouver assez rapidement des solutions pour de grandes instances. Le dernier travail de cette thèse porte sur les réseaux radio cognitifs et plus précisément sur le problème de partage de bande passante. Nous l’avons formalisé en utilisant un programme linéaire mais avec une autre approche d’optimisation robuste. Nous utilisons la méthode d'optimisation robuste à 2 niveaux pour le résoudre. / The main work of this thesis focuses on the wireless backhaul networks. We studied different optimization problems in such networks that represent real challenges for industrial sector.The first issue addressed focuses on the capacity allocation on the links at minimum cost. It was solved by a linear programming approach with column generation. Our method solves the problems on large size networks. We then studied the problem of network infrastructure sharing between virtual operators. The objective is to maximize the revenue of the operator of the physical infrastructure while satisfying the quality of service constraints of virtual operators customers of the network. In this context, we proposed a robust model using mixed integer linear programming. In the following problem, we proposed a robust energy-aware routing solution for the network operators to reduce their energy consumption. Our solution was formulated using a mixed integer linear program. We also proposed heuristics to find efficient solutions for large networks. The last work of this thesis focuses on cognitive radio networks and more specifi- cally on the problem of bandwidth sharing. We formalized it using a linear program with a different approach to robust optimization. We based our solution on the 2-stage linear robust method.

Due to the rapid growth of mobile networks, network operators need to expand their coverage and capacity. Addressing these two needs is challenging. One factor is the requirement for cost-efficient transport via heterogeneous networks. In order to achieve this goal, Internet connectivity is considered a cost-efficient transport option by many operators for small cell backhaul. This thesis project investigates if a small cell network's requirements can be fulfilled by utilizing Internet connectivity for backhaul. In order to answer this question several measurements have been made to assess different aspect of live networks and compare them with the network operator's requirements. Different measurement protocols are utilized to evaluate some of the key network characteristics, such as throughput, jitter, packet loss, and delay. These measurement protocols are described in this thesis. Moreover, improving the bandwidth available in real-time (BART) measurement method was one of the main achievements of this thesis project. Evaluation of the measurement results indicates that fiber based access together with Internet connectivity would be the best and cheapest solution as a backhaul for small cell network in comparison with almost all of the other types of broadband access technologies. It should be noted that asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) and cable- TV access networks proved to be unable to meet the requirements for small cell backhaul. This project gives a clear picture of the current broadband access network infrastructure's attributes and highlights the possibility of reducing backhaul costs by using broadband Internet connectivity as a backhaul transport option. / Dagens snabbt ökande mobilia datatrafik gör att nätverksoperatörerna behöver utöka både täckning och kapacitet hos sina nät. Att tillgodose båda dessa behov är en utmaning. Ett krav är kostnadseffektiva transporter via heterogena nätverk. För att uppfylla detta utreder många operatörer möjligheten att använda Internet-baserad returtrafik (backhaul) för småceller. Detta examensarbete utreder huruvida kraven för småceller kan uppfyllas genom att utnyttja en Internet-baserad returtrafik. För att kunna besvara denna fråga har flera mätningar utförts i syfte att bedöma olika aspekter av verkliga nätverk och jämföra dem med nätverksoperatörens krav. Olika mätprotokoll utnyttjas för att utvärdera några av de viktigaste egenskaperna hos nätet, såsom hastighet, jitter, paketförluster och förseningar. Dessa mätprotokoll beskrivs i dettta examensarbete. Dessutom/Vidare har metoden "bandbredd tillgänglig för realtidsmätningar" bandwidth available in real-time (BART) förbättrats. Utvärdering av mätresultaten visar att fiberbaserad access tillsammans med Internetanslutning är den bästa och billigaste returtrafiklösningen för småcellsnätverk för nästan alla olika typerna av bredbandsteknik, förutom för (asymmetric digital subscriber line) ADSL och kabelaccessnät. Detta projekt ger en tydlig bild av den aktuella nätinfrastrukturens egenskaper och möjligheten att reducera returtrafik-kostnaderna genom att använd bredbandsanslutning med Internet som transport kostnader.

Abstract With the unprecedented growth in mobile data traffic and network densification, the emerging fifth-generation (5G) wireless network warrants a paradigm shift with respect to system design and technological enablers. In this regard, the prime motivation of this thesis is to propose an integrated access-backhaul (IAB) framework to dynamically schedule users, while efficiently providing a wireless backhaul to dense small cells and mitigating interference. In addition, joint resource allocation and interference mitigation solutions are proposed for two-hop and multi-hop self-backhauled millimeter wave (mmWave) networks. The first contribution of this thesis focuses on a multi-user two-hop relay cellular system in which a massive antenna array enabled macro base station (BS) simultaneously provides high beamforming gains to outdoor users, and wireless backhauling to outdoor small cells. Moreover, a hierarchical interference mitigation scheme is applied to efficiently mitigate cross-tier and co-tier interference. In the second contribution, a multi-hop self-backhauled mmWave communication scenario is studied whereby a joint multi-hop multi-path selection and rate allocation framework is proposed to enable Gbps data rates with reliable communications. Using reinforcement learning techniques, a dynamic and efficient re-routing solution is proposed to cope with blockage and latency constraints. Finally, a risk-sensitive learning solution is leveraged to provide high-reliability and low-latency communications. In summary, the dissertation analyses key trade-offs between (i) capacity and latency, (ii) reliability and network density. Extensive simulation results were carried out to verify the performance gains of the proposed algorithms compared to several baselines and for different network settings. Key findings show significant improvements in terms of higher data rates, lower latency, and reliable communications with some trade-offs. / Tiivistelmä Liikkuvan dataliikenteen ennennäkemättömän kasvun ja verkkojen tihentymisen seurauksena pian käyttöön tulevien viidennen sukupolven (5G) langattomien verkkojen järjestelmäsuunnittelua ja teknologisten mahdollistajien käyttöä on täytynyt lähestyä kokonaan uudesta näkökulmasta. Niinpä tämän väitöstyön johtavana ajatuksena on ehdottaa integroitua verkkoon pääsyn ja runkoverkkoyhteyden muodostamismallia, jossa käyttäjät resursoidaan dynaamisesti ja samalla muodostetaan tehokkaat runkoverkkoyhteydet piensoluille. Tätä varten tutkitaan resurssiallokaation ja häiriöiden lieventämisen yhteisratkaisuja, jotka tukevat kahden tai useamman hypyn yhteyksiä ja samanaikaista runkoverkkoyhteyden luomista millimetriaaltoalueen verkoissa. Työn alkuosa keskittyy usean käyttäjän välitinavusteiseen kahden hypyn solukkoverkkoon, jossa makrotukiasemassa käytetään suurta antenniryhmää muodostamaan samanaikaisesti suuren vahvistuksen antennikeiloja käyttäjälinkeille ja langattomalle runkoyhteysosuudelle. Lisäksi sovelletaan hierarkkista häiriönvaimennusmenetelmää saman kerroksen ja kerrosten välisen häiriön tehokkaaseen vähentämiseen. Työn seuraavassa osassa arvioidaan usean hypyn runkoverkkoyhteyden muodostuksen tutkimusongelmaa millimetrialueen kommunikaatiossa kehittämällä yhdistetty menetelmä usean hypyn monipolkuvalinnalle ja tiedonsiirtoresurssien allokoinnille. Tällä tähdätään gigabittiluokan datanopeuksiin ja luotettavaan tietoliikenteeseen millimetrialueella. Vahvistavan oppimisen tekniikan avulla esitellään dynaaminen ja tehokas uudelleenreitityskonsepti toimimaan esto- ja viiverajoitusten kanssa. Lopuksi hyödynnetään riskisensitiivistä oppimista ja antennidiversiteettitekniikoita suuren luotettavuuden ja pienen latenssin saavuttamiseksi millimetrialueen tiedonsiirrossa. Näiden avulla analysoidaan kaupankäyntiä esimerkiksi (i) kapasiteetin ja latenssin sekä (ii) luotettavuuden ja verkon tiheyden/kuormituksen välillä. Mittavien suoritettujen simulointien avulla osoitetaan ehdotettujen algoritmien suorituskykyedut suhteessa tunnettuihin verrokkeihin useissa eri skenaarioissa. Tulosten perusteella saavutetaan merkittäviä kustannussäästöjä infrastruktuurin ja runkoverkon osalta sekä päästään suuriin datanopeuksiin ja parannuksiin pienen latenssin luotettavassa tietoliikenteessä.

Submitted by camilla martins (camillasmmartins@gmail.com) on 2017-03-06T16:07:10Z No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_DesigningCost-EfficientTransport.pdf: 2918415 bytes, checksum: 7ca8ff5f47a7eb9fd97957edfcaf7b51 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Edisangela Bastos (edisangela@ufpa.br) on 2017-03-22T13:30:51Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_DesigningCost-EfficientTransport.pdf: 2918415 bytes, checksum: 7ca8ff5f47a7eb9fd97957edfcaf7b51 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-03-22T13:30:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Tese_DesigningCost-EfficientTransport.pdf: 2918415 bytes, checksum: 7ca8ff5f47a7eb9fd97957edfcaf7b51 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-03 / CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / Esta tese se concentra na avaliação técnico econômica de soluções de transporte para acesso banda larga fixa e móvel. Para futuras redes de acesso móvel, propõem-se arquiteturas de backhaul usando fibra e microondas baseado no desenvolvimento de redes de acesso wireless verde e infraestruturas legadas de backhaul baseada em cobre para migração Brownfield, ou seja, usando infraestrutura existente até o limite de capacidade suportada, enquanto para redes de banda larga fixa são propostas implantações de proteção baseadas em esquemas híbridos, ou seja, fiber+wireless. As principais contribuições desta tese estão relacionadas ao campo de pesquisa do custo total de investimento em infraestrutura de transporte banda larga. Em termos de custo total de investimento, são propostos dois conjuntos de modelos para avaliar as despesas de capital e de operação, CAPEX e OPEX respectivamente, de operadoras de redes de acesso banda larga fixa e móvel. Primeiramente, para banda larga móvel, é apresentado um conjunto de modelos condensado em uma metodologia geral que visa fornecer: previsão de tráfego, implantação de rede sem fio, implantação de backhaul móvel e avaliação do custo total. É mostrado que o backhaul baseado em fibra considerando acesso sem fio verde é a opção mais eficiente em termos de energia. Além disso, Brownfield mostra que o backhaul baseado em cobre ainda pode desempenhar um grande papel se utilizado até a exaustão de sua capacidade e reduz drasticamente os custos de investimentos em infraestrutura. Adicionalmente, são apresentadas as principais diferenças de custos e valores de energia entre redes de acesso sem fio verde e Brownfield. Finalmente, para banda larga fixa, é proposta uma metodologia baseada em dimensionamento de rede, custos associados à falha e avaliação do custo total por assinante. Os modelos são utilizados para avaliar cinco modelos que representam diferentes esquemas de proteção para arquiteturas de banda larga fixa. Esta pesquisa revela os benefícios econômicos do uso de esquema de proteção híbrido baseado em arquitetura fiber+wireless comparado com a opção de proteção baseada totalmente em fibra e é também apresentada uma análise de sensibilidade para provar que o investimento adicional em CAPEX para proteger a infraestrutura pode ser recuperado em alguns anos através da economia em OPEX. / This thesis undertakes a techno-economic evaluation of transport solutions for fixed and mobile broadband access. In the case of future mobile access networks, it is proposed to make use of backhaul architectures using fiber and microwave applied to Greenfield deployments and a copper-legacy backhaul infrastructure based on Brownfield migration, i.e. finding a way of using a legacy infrastructure to its full capacity. At the same time, protection deployments based on fiber-wireless schemes are recommended for future fixed broadband. The main contribution made by this thesis is to carry out a research investigation into the total investment cost of the broadband transport infrastructure. This will be determined by employing two sets of models to assess the capital and operational expenditures, (CAPEX and OPEX respectively), of mobile and fixed broadband access network operators. First, this involves a set of models for mobile broadband that are summarized in a general methodology that aims at providing: traffic forecasting, wireless deployment, mobile backhaul deployment and total cost assessment. It was found that, fiber-based backhaul through a Greenfield deployment is the most energy-efficient option. Furthermore, Brownfield reveals that copper-based backhaul can still play a key role if used up to its full capacity and sharply reduces the investment costs in infrastructure. Additionally, there is an examination of the main differences in cost and energy values between Greenfield and Brownfield. Finally, a methodology is employed for fixed broadband based on network dimensioning, failure costs and an assessment of the total cost of ownership. The models are used to assess five architectures that represent different protection schemes for fixed broadband. This research shows the economic benefits of using a hybrid protection scheme based on fiber-wireless architecture rather than fiber-based protection options and a sensitivity analysis is conducted to show that the extra CAPEX invested to protect the infrastructure might be recovered through the OPEX after a number of years. The results obtained in the thesis should be useful for network operators to plan both their fixed and mobile broadband access network infrastructure in the future.

La croissance phénoménale du trafic pousse les opérateurs mobiles à différencier leurs plans de tarification en se basant sur la bande passante consommée. Afin de maximiser la monétisation du trafic de données, les opérateurs devront envisager des approches plus intelligentes tout en améliorant leurs réseaux actuels ou en déployant de nouvelles infrastructures. Les Small Cells sont une partie intégrante des réseaux cellulaires matures 3G/4G et futurs 5G. Les Small Cells peuvent être de facto déployées dans des architectures hétérogènes pour la densification des réseaux macrocellulaires, ou de façon homogène pour une couverture en haut débit. Pour le deuxième cas de déploiement, de nouveaux défis doivent être résolus: un réseau de collecte fiable et économique est vital pour les déploiements des Small Cells. Le réseau de collecte est spécifiquement plus contraignant pour les déploiements des Small Cells dans les zones dites green-field, où les infrastructures de transport sont absentes ou présentes mais ne peuvent être contrôlées par l'opérateur. En d'autres termes, l'opérateur mobile souhaite garantir une bonne qualité d'accès aux services haut débit en se basant uniquement sur des Small Cells, tout en réduisant le coût global de l'installation. Dans cette thèse, nous nous focalisons sur des solutions de réseau de collecte rentables qui peuvent fournir les capacités minimales requises par les utilisateurs finaux. Notre première contribution vise à assurer une capacité suffisante aux réseaux Small Cells 4G. Tout d'abord, nous proposons une méthode rentable qui minimise les coûts du réseau de collecte tout en respectant les contraintes de : 1) demande de trafic dans le réseau d'accès, et de 2) caractéristiques technologiques des liens de collecte. Cette méthode permet d'obtenir des solutions sur mesure de réseau de collecte à coûts optimal pour un réseau d'accès donné, basé sur des Small Cells; ces solutions sont constituées de différentes technologies de liaison. Deuxièmement, nous analysons l'impact de l'activité des utilisateurs finaux sur le trafic généré à la fois sur les deux interfaces logiques S1 et X2 d'une Small Cell, tout en tenant compte les différentes composantes de trafic moyen d'un utilisateur final. Cette analyse permet d'avoir un aperçu très utile pour la sélection des solutions nécessaires au réseau de collecte. Dans notre deuxième contribution, nous nous focalisons sur l'amélioration des capacités des systèmes WLAN. Nous concevons un protocole d'ordonnancement MAC pour les transmissions uplink multi-utilisateurs : il permet un échange minimal des trames de contrôle requises pour la mise en place des transmissions entre les multiples émetteurs et le récepteur. Les résultats d'analyse et de simulations révèlent des performances améliorées, d'un point de vue du système et de l'utilisateur. / The recent phenomenal traffic growth is driving mobile operators to tier their pricing plans based on consumed bandwidth. To maximize data traffic monetization, operators will need to consider smarter approaches while upgrading their current networks or deploying new ones. Small Cells are an integral part of both mature 3G/4G and future 5G cellular networks. Small Cells may be de facto deployed in heterogeneous architectures for Macro cells densification, or homogeneously for minimum broadband coverage. In this respect, emerging challenges must be tackled: a reliable and economical backhaul is vital for Small Cells deployments. It is specifically more constraining for Small Cells deployments in green-field areas, where transport infrastructure are absent or non-owned. In other words, the mobile operator wants to ensure good quality access to broadband services based only on Small Cells, while reducing overall installation cost. In this thesis, we focus on cost-efficient backhaul solutions that may provide the minimum capacities required by end users. Our first contribution targets the provisioning of 4G Small Cells networks with sufficient capacity. Firstly, we provide a cost-efficient method that minimizes backhaul cost while respecting the constraints of access network traffic demand and connecting technologies characteristics. This method provides with customized cost-optimal backhaul solutions for a given Small Cells access network; those solutions are made up of different linking technologies. Secondly, we analyze the impact of end users activity -i.e. data exchange- on generated traffic on both a Small Cell logical interfaces S1 and X2; by taking into account different traffic components of an end user device. The analysis supplies with valuable insights on selecting the needed backhaul solutions. In our second contribution, we focus on improving capacity in WLAN systems. We design a MAC scheduling scheme for uplink multi-users transmissions: it enables to exchange minimal control frames required for the establishment of transmissions between the multiple transmitters and the receiver. Both analytic results and conducted proof-of-concept simulations show improved efficiency for both system and user oriented performances.

Small cells are deployed in a crowded areas with a high demand for both coverage and capacity. It is hard to address both of these requirements simultaneous with a conventional mobile network architecture based on macro cells. In many case a wire is not available to connect the small cell to the core of the mobile network. Under these circumstances a wireless link could be a convenient solution for the backhaul. In this master’s thesis IEEE 802.11n technology was evaluated to assess its suitability for backhaul from a small wireless cell. The performance of wireless equipment manufactured by several vendors has been measured. The results of these measurements were analyzed and compared to a set of requirements established for small cell backhaul. The analysis has affirmed that IEEE 802.11n is capable of providing sufficient performance to be used for small cell backhaul in various deployment scenarios. Note that in this thesis we include femtocells, picocells, wireless LAN access points, and other technologies in the category of "small cells". Another research questions of this master’s thesis is security of small cell backhaul. In addition to protecting the backhaul link itself, the security research investigated the safety of the whole mobile network architecture remodeled with the introduction of small cells. A mechanism to integrate secure small cells into a mobile network was developed. The results obtained during the project will be used as an input for product development activities in the company hosting the project. The resulting product could become the target of future wireless system performance measurements. / Små celler sätts ut i områden med höga krav på täckning och kapacitet. Det är svårt att adressera båda dessa krav samtidigt med en konventionell mobil nätverksarkitektur baserad på makro-celler. I många fall finns ingen kabel tillgänglig att koppla den lilla cellen till kärnan i det mobila nätverket. Under dessa omständigheter kan en trådlös länk vara en lämplig lösning för backhaul. I denna avhandling utvärderas IEEE 802.11n-teknikens lämplighet för backhaul av små celler. Prestandan hos trådlös utrustning tillverkad av flera olika tillverkare har mätts. Resultaten av dessa mätningar analyserades och jämfördes med en mängd krav uppsatta för backhaul av små celler. Analysen har förankrat att IEEE 802.11n är kapabel till att tillhandahålla tillräcklig prestanda för backhaul av små celler i diverse miljöer. Notera att i denna avhandling så inkluderas femto-celler, pico-celler, Wireless LAN-åtkomstpunkter, och andra teknologier i kategorin små celler". Andra forskningsfrågor berörda i avhandlingen är säkerhet vid backhaul av små celler. Utöver att skydda backhaul-länken själv så undersökte säkerhetsforskningen säkerheten av hela mobilnätsarkitekturen när små celler används i arkitekturen. En mekanism för att integrera säkra små celler i ett mobilnät utvecklades. De resultat som införskaffades under projektets genomförande kommer att användas som input till produktutvecklingsaktiviteter hos företaget som sponsrade projektet. Den resulterande produkten skulle kunna bli mål för framtida prestandamätningar av trådlösa system.

L’architecture actuelle des réseaux d’accès radio n’est pas adaptée en terme de capacité à supporter l’accroissement continu du trafic dans les systèmes cellulaires 4G et au-delà. L’objectif de cette thèse est de proposer une architecture réseau générique, GeRoFAN (Generic Radio over Fiber Access Network) pour la fédération des stations de base des systèmes cellulaires de nouvelle génération (WiMAX, 4G LTE). Deux innovations technologiques majeures sont utilisées pour l’implémentation de l’architecture GeRoFAN: la radio-sur-fibre (RoF) et les modulateurs réflexifs éléctro-absorbants. La thèse vise aussi à concevoir pour l’architecture GeRoFAN un plan contrôle et un canal de signalisation adapté permettant le basculement des ressources radio, selon la fluctuation du trafic, entre un grand nombre de cellules réparties à l’échelle métropolitaine. Cependant, il a été bien avéré que la transmission optique de plusieurs canaux radios en utilisant la RoF analogique est assujettie à des multiples facteurs de dégradation physique altérant la qualité du signal de ces canaux et induisant une perte dans leur capacité de Shannon. L’originalité du plan de contrôle de GeRoFAN est de réaliser une affectation optimisée des canaux radios sur les porteuses optiques, grace au multiplexage par sous-porteuse (SCM), afin d’ajuster la capacité de Shannon dans chaque cellule radio à la charge de trafic à laquelle elle est soumise. A cet effet, une connaissance fine des contraintes physiques de la transmission RoF est requise pour le plan de contrôle. Cette connaissance est acquise par l’élaboration d’un modèle analytique des divers bruits de transmission du système GeRoFAN. Contrairement à des propositions comparables, le plan contrôle de GeRoFAN se doit d’être le plus transparent que possible à la technologie des systèmes radio concernés. Sa nature " MAC radio agnostique " vise à permettre, grâce au multiplexage en longueur d’onde et au routage optique WDM, la fédération de plusieurs opérateurs utilisant différentes technologies radio sur la même infrastructure. Plus généralement, avec la mutualisation de l’architecture GeRoFAN, le plan de contrôle permet de virtualiser les ressources radiofréquences et de promouvoir de nouveaux modèles économiques pour les opérateurs Télécoms. Le dernier volet de la thèse se focalise sur la valeur "business" du paradigme GeRoFAN. Les contours du nouveau éco-system d’affaire promu par GeRoFAN sont définis. Les motivations/attentes des différentes parties prenantes dans cet éco-system sont esquissées, les contraintes réglementaires et organisationnelles soulevées sont adressées afin d’assurer un déploiement sans heurts de GeRoFAN. Bien qu’exigeant un nouveau modèle réglementaire, il s’agit de mettre en évidence l’intérêt économique de la solution GeRoFAN, tout particulièrement en comparaison à la RoF digitale, à travers des études technico-économiques chiffrant les couts d’investissement (CapEx), les couts opérationnels (OpEx) et les possibles retours sur investissement. A cet effet, deux modèles économiques sont proposés mettant en évidence la valeur ajoutée de GeRoFAN tout au long de la chaine de valeur. / Current radio access networks architectures are not suited in terms of capacity and backhauling capabilities to fit the continuing traffic increase of 4G cellular systems. The objective of the thesis is to propose an innovative and generic mobile backhauling network architecture, called GeRoFAN (Generic Radio-over-Fiber Access Network), for next generation mobile systems (WiMAX, 4G LTE). Two major technological innovations are used to implement GeRo-FAN: analog Radio-over-Fiber (RoF) and reflective amplified absorption modulators. The aim of this thesis is to design for such an architecture an original Control Plane (CP) and a signaling channel enabling to balance radio resources between a set of neighboring cells at the access/metropolitan scale according to traffic fluctuations. The transmission of several radio frequencies by means of an analog RoF link suffers from several impairments that may degrade the capacity of the radio system. The originality of the GeRoFAN-CP consists in mapping radio frequencies with optical carriers by means of Sub-Carrier Multiplexing (SCM) in order to optimize the Shannon’s capacity within the various cells covered by the system according to the current traffic load. For that purpose, a deep analysis and modeling of the various physical layer impairments impacting the quality of the radio signal is carried out. Unlike comparable approaches, the GeRoFAN-CP is as independent as possible from the radio layer protocols. Thus, the "radio MAC-agnostic" nature of the GeRoFAN-CP enables to federate multiple operators using different radio technologies onto the same backhauling optical infrastructure. Subcarrier and wavelength division multiplexing (SCM/WDM) as well as WDM optical routing capabilities are exploited onto the GeRoFAN transparent architecture. More globally, the GeRoFAN-CP enables a form of "radio frequency virtualization" while promoting new business models for Telecom service providers. The last part of the thesis focuses on the business value of the GeRoFAN paradigm. The expectations of the different stake-holders and main regulatory/organizational entities that could be involved in the deployment of GeRoFAN infrastructures should be addressed in order to achieve a smooth deployment of this new type of mobile backhauling. Economics of the GeRoFAN architecture are investigated in terms of OpEx/CapEx valuation and investment profitability, especially in reference to digitized RoF. Two business models are then proposed to study how GeRoFAN contributes to enriching the cellular backhauling service value chain.

The proliferation of modern wireless networks increases demand for high capacity and throughput in order to provide faster, more robust, efficient and broadband services to end users. Mobile WiMAX and LTE are examples of such networks in which for some cases they have exposed limited connectivity due to harsh environment. Relay stations are preferred to overcome problems of weak or no access for such network devices, that are placed in specific positions to maintain high quality of data transfer at low cost and provide the required connectivity anywhere anytime. These stations should be equipped with an antenna system capable of establishing communication between base station (backhaul link) and end users (access link). This thesis focuses on the design and development of a new antenna system that is suitable for a relay-based wireless network. Planar geometries of microstrip patch antennas are utilized. The antenna system comprises two antenna modules: a new design of a single antenna for access link and a new design of an antenna array for backhaul link realization. Both antenna specifications are compatible with the IEEE802.16j protocol standard. Hence, relay station should be capable of pointing its radiation pattern to the base station antenna, thus to achieve the desired radiation pattern of the relay station, a new beam-forming module is proposed, designed and developed to generate the proper radiation pattern. The beam-forming module incorporating digital phase shifters and attenuator chips is fabricated and tested. The optimization process using the Least Mean Square (LMS) algorithm is considered in this study to assign the proper phase and amplitude that is necessary to each radiation element excitation current, to produce the desired steered radiation pattern. A comprehensive study on the coupling effects for several relative positions between two new backhaul and access link antenna elements is performed. Two new antenna configurations for coupling reduction are tested and the simulated and measured results in terms of antenna radiation performances were compared and commented.

With the increasing maturity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, wireless ecosystem is experiencing an unprecedented paradigm shift. These aerial platforms are specifically appealing for a variety of applications due to their rapid and flexible deployment, cost-effectiveness, and high chance of forming line-of-sight (LoS) links to the ground nodes. As with any new technology, the benefits of incorporating UAVs in existing cellular networks cannot be characterized without completely exploring the underlying trade space. This requires a detailed system-level analysis of drone cellular networks by taking the unique features of UAVs into account, which is the main objective of this dissertation. We first focus on a static setup and characterize the performance of a three-dimensional (3D) two-hop cellular network in which terrestrial base stations (BSs) coexist with UAVs to serve a set of ground user equipment (UE). In particular, a UE connects either directly to its serving terrestrial BS by an access link or connects first to its serving UAV which is then wirelessly backhauled to a terrestrial BS (joint access and backhaul). We consider realistic antenna radiation patterns for both BSs and UAVs using practical models developed by the third generation partnership project (3GPP). We assume a probabilistic channel model for the air-to-ground transmission, which incorporates both LoS and non-LoS links. Assuming the max-power association policy, we study the performance of the network in both amplify-and-forward (AF) and decode-and-forward (DF) relaying protocols. Using tools from stochastic geometry, we analyze the joint distribution of distance and zenith angle of the closest (and serving) UAV to the origin in a 3D setting. Further, we identify and extensively study key mathematical constructs as the building blocks of characterizing the received signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) distribution. Using these results, we obtain exact mathematical expressions for the coverage probability in both AF and DF relaying protocols. Furthermore, considering the fact that backhaul links could be quite weak because of the downtilted antennas at the BSs, we propose and analyze the addition of a directional uptilted antenna at the BS that is solely used for backhaul purposes. The superiority of having directional antennas with wirelessly backhauled UAVs is further demonstrated via extensive simulations. Second, we turn our attention to a mobile setup and characterize the performance of several canonical mobility models in a drone cellular network in which UAV base stations serve UEs on the ground. In particular, we consider the following four mobility models: (i) straight line (SL), (ii) random stop (RS), (iii) random walk (RW), and (iv) random waypoint (RWP), among which the SL mobility model is inspired by the simulation models used by the 3GPP for the placement and trajectory of UAVs, while the other three are well-known canonical models (or their variants) that offer a useful balance between realism and tractability. Assuming the nearest-neighbor association policy, we consider two service models for the UEs: (i) UE independent model (UIM), and (ii) UE dependent model (UDM). While the serving UAV follows the same mobility model as the other UAVs in the UIM, it is assumed to fly towards the UE of interest in the UDM and hover above its location after reaching there. We then present a unified approach to characterize the point process of UAVs for all the mobility and service models. Using this, we provide exact mathematical expressions for the average received rate and the session rate as seen by the typical UE. Further, using tools from the calculus of variations, we concretely demonstrate that the simple SL mobility model provides a lower bound on the performance of other general mobility models (including the ones in which UAVs follow curved trajectories) as long as the movement of each UAV in these models is independent and identically distributed (i.i.d.). Continuing our analysis on mobile setups, we analyze the handover probability in a drone cellular network, where the initial positions of the UAVs serving the ground UEs are modeled by a homogeneous Poisson point process (PPP). Inspired by the mobility model considered in the 3GPP studies, we assume that all the UAVs follow the SL mobility model, i.e., move along straight lines in random directions. We further consider two different scenarios for the UAV speeds: (i) same speed model (SSM), and (ii) different speed model (DSM). Assuming nearest-neighbor association policy, we characterize the handover probability of this network for both mobility scenarios. For the SSM, we compute the exact handover probability by establishing equivalence with a single-tier terrestrial cellular network, in which the BSs are static while the UEs are mobile. We then derive a lower bound for the handover probability in the DSM by characterizing the evolution of the spatial distribution of the UAVs over time. After performing these system-level analyses on UAV networks, we focus our attention on the air-to-ground wireless channel and attempt to understand its unique features. For that, we first study the impact of UAV wobbling on the coherence time of the wireless channel between UAVs and a ground UE, using a Rician multi-path channel model. We consider two different scenarios for the number of UAVs: (i) single UAV scenario (SUS), and (ii) multiple UAV scenario (MUS). For each scenario, we model UAV wobbling by two random processes, i.e., the Wiener and sinusoidal processes, and characterize the channel autocorrelation function (ACF) which is then used to derive the coherence time of the channel. For the MUS, we further show that the UAV-UE channels for different UAVs are uncorrelated from each other. One key observation that is revealed from our analysis is that even for small UAV wobbling, the coherence time of the channel may degrade quickly, which may make it difficult to track the channel and establish a reliable communication link. Finally, we develop an impairments-aware air-to-ground unified channel model that incorporates the effect of both wobbling and hardware impairments, where the former is caused by random physical fluctuations of UAVs, and the latter by intrinsic radio frequency (RF) nonidealities at both the transmitter and receiver, such as phase noise, in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) imbalance, and power amplifier (PA) nonlinearity. The impact of UAV wobbling is modeled by two stochastic processes, i.e., the canonical Wiener process and the more realistic sinusoidal process. On the other hand, the aggregate impact of all hardware impairments is modeled as two multiplicative and additive distortion noise processes, which is a well-accepted model. For the sake of generality, we consider both wide-sense stationary (WSS) and nonstationary processes for the distortion noises. We then rigorously characterize the ACF of the wireless channel, using which we provide a comprehensive analysis of four key channel-related metrics: (i) power delay profile (PDP), (ii) coherence time, (iii) coherence bandwidth, and (iv) power spectral density (PSD) of the distortion-plus-noise process. Furthermore, we evaluate these metrics with reasonable UAV wobbling and hardware impairment models to obtain useful insights. Similar to our observation above, this work again demonstrates that the coherence time severely degrades at high frequencies even for small UAV wobbling, which renders air-to-ground channel estimation very difficult at these frequencies. / Doctor of Philosophy / With the increasing maturity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, wireless ecosystem is changing dramatically. Owing to their ease of deployment and high chance of forming direct line-of-sight (LoS) links with the other UAVs and ground users, they are very appealing for numerous wireless applications. As with any new technology, exploring the full extent of the benefits of UAVs requires careful exploration of the underlying trade space. Therefore, in this dissertation, our main focus is on the analysis of such aerial networks, their interplay with the current terrestrial networks, and the unique features of UAVs that make them different from conventional ground nodes. One important aspect of aerial communication systems is their integration into our current cellular networks. Clearly, the addition of these new aerial components has the potential of benefiting both the ground users (such as mobile users watching a concert who need cellular connectivity to share the moments) and the cellular base station (BS). Therefore, careful analysis of these ``aerial-terrestrial" networks is of utmost importance. In the first phase of this dissertation, we perform this analysis by interpreting the network as a combination of one-hop (from the BS to the user) and two-hop (from the BS to the UAV and then from the UAV to the UE) links. Since the locations of BSs, UAVs, and users are irregular in general, we use tools from stochastic geometry to carry out our analysis, which is a field of mathematics that studies random shapes and patterns. Also, because existing terrestrial BSs are primarily designed to serve the ``ground", we propose the addition of a separate set of antennas at the BS site that is solely used to serve the ``air", i.e., to communicate with the UAVs, and demonstrate the benefits of this additional infrastructure in detail. One of our assumptions in the first phase of this dissertation was that the considered network was static, i.e., the UAVs were hovering in the air and the BSs/users were also not moving. In the second phase, on the other hand, we explore the benefits and challenges of a mobile network of UAVs and characterize the performance of several canonical mobility models in a drone cellular network. In particular, one of the models that we studied extensively is the so-called straight line (SL) mobility model, which was inspired by the simulation models used by the third generation partnership project (3GPP) for the placement and trajectory of UAVs. Since the locations of UAVs could be assumed random in general, we use tools from stochastic geometry and present a unified approach to characterize the point process of UAVs, using which we obtained exact mathematical expressions for the average received rate (i.e., throughput) as seen by the users. Continuing our analysis on mobile setups and using the SL mobility model, we also analyze the handover probability in a drone cellular network, which is defined as the event when the serving UAV of a user changes. By establishing equivalence between our aerial setup with a terrestrial cellular network, we compute the exact handover probability in drone cellular networks. In the final phase of this dissertation, we focus our attention on the air-to-ground wireless channel and attempt to understand its unique features. For that, we propose an impairments-aware unified channel model for an air-to-ground wireless communication system and extensively analyze the link between a hovering UAV in the air and a static user on the ground. In particular, we consider two different types of impairments: (i) UAV wobbling, and (ii) hardware impairments, where the former is caused by random physical fluctuations, and the latter by intrinsic radio frequency (RF) nonidealities at both the transmitter and receiver. Using appropriate models for each type of impairment, we rigorously characterize the autocorrelation function (ACF) of the wireless channel, using which we provide a comprehensive analysis of key channel-related metrics, such as coherence time and coherence bandwidth. One key observation that is revealed from our analysis is that even for small UAV wobbling and low hardware impairment levels, the coherence time of the channel may degrade quickly at high frequencies, which could make it difficult to track the channel and establish a reliable communication link at these frequencies.