Unmanned Vehicles’ Placement Optimisation for Internet of Things and Internet of Unmanned Vehicles

Currently, the use of unmanned vehicles, such as drones, boats and ships, in monitoring tasks where human presence is difficult or even impossible raises several issues. Continuous efforts to improve the autonomy of such vehicles have not solved all aspects of this issue. In an Internet of Unmanned Vehicles (IoUV) environment, the idea of replacing the static wireless infrastructure and reusing the mobile monitoring nodes in different conditions would converge to a dynamic solution to assure data collection in areas where there is no infrastructure that ensures Internet access. The current paper fills a significant gap, proposing an algorithm that optimises the positions of unmanned vehicles such that an ad hoc network is deployed to serve specific wireless sensor networks that have no other Internet connectivity (hilly/mountainous areas, Danube Delta) and must be connected to an Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. The algorithm determines the optimum positions of UV nodes that decrease the path losses below the link budget threshold with minimum UV node displacement compared to their initial coordinates. The algorithm was tested in a rural scenario and 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), free space and two-ray propagation models. The paper proposes another type of network, a Flying and Surface Ad Hoc Network (FSANET), a concept which implies collaboration and coexistence between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and several use cases that motivate the need for such a network.

6G Fundamentals: Vision and Enabling Technologies

This article reviews the 6G global landscape and the most relevant private and public initiatives, with US$ billions of investments in next generation information and communication (ICT) systems and application services. Then, it presents the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technology roadmap towards 6G and 5G New Radio (NR) releases. This is followed by an introduction to the latest shift in paradigm “from Internet of Things (IoT) to Internet of Intelligence (IoI)”, which paves the way towards 6G wireless. The new system is anticipated to provide pervasive connectivity to functions with the ability to represent knowledge, process knowledge, and make decisions, with or without human intervention. Beyond that, the paper discusses the new carrier frequency bands above 110 GHz; and innovative fundamental enabling technologies, such as integrated semantic communication and sensing, low earth orbiting satellites, quantum key distribution, post quantum cryptography, and distributed ledger technology; and portrays a network vision for 6G wireless, looking to 2030 and beyond. Conclusions are drawn on 6G prospects, the needs of security by design for 6G; as well as the potential of 6G for securely connecting pervasive intelligence and preserving privacy; and new research directions to cater for new use categories and requirements.

5G Evolution for Multicast and Broadcast Services in 3GPP Release 17

<div>5G communications system is on the evolution path with present focus on enabling advanced features and new service capabilities. Multicast and Broadcast Services (MBS) are being considered as one of the most promising use cases of 5G. As a late entrant to 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G standards, MBS work item is presently being developed over existing 5G framework, and is targeted to enhance 5G New Radio and 5G Core Network capabilities for a reliable, low latency, resource efficient, and massive deployment of a wide array of multicast and broadcast services. MBS development entails enhancements for network and user equipment side on architectural, protocol and transmission aspects in order to address a new set of multicast and broadcast service requirements in 5G. In this article, we present an introduction to MBS standardization and outline newly introduced technical features, and their use cases.</div>

5G Evolution for Multicast and Broadcast Services in 3GPP Release 17

<div>5G communications system is on the evolution path with present focus on enabling advanced features and new service capabilities. Multicast and Broadcast Services (MBS) are being considered as one of the most promising use cases of 5G. As a late entrant to 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 5G standards, MBS work item is presently being developed over existing 5G framework, and is targeted to enhance 5G New Radio and 5G Core Network capabilities for a reliable, low latency, resource efficient, and massive deployment of a wide array of multicast and broadcast services. MBS development entails enhancements for network and user equipment side on architectural, protocol and transmission aspects in order to address a new set of multicast and broadcast service requirements in 5G. In this article, we present an introduction to MBS standardization and outline newly introduced technical features, and their use cases.</div>

The Curious Case of Effective Isotropic Sensitivity

This paper establishes a solid mathematical model for Over the Air (OTA) test and characterization of 5G millimeter wave User Equipment (UE) in Compact Antenna Test Ranges (CATR). Special attention is paid to receiver characteristics and polarization mismatch problem which is encountered in spherical coverage tests. The received power of a UE with dual-polarized antenna system is derived and output SNR is calculated using Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) principle. And finally, some of the misconceptions in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards publications is addressed<br>

The Curious Case of Effective Isotropic Sensitivity

This paper establishes a solid mathematical model for Over the Air (OTA) test and characterization of 5G millimeter wave User Equipment (UE) in Compact Antenna Test Ranges (CATR). Special attention is paid to receiver characteristics and polarization mismatch problem which is encountered in spherical coverage tests. The received power of a UE with dual-polarized antenna system is derived and output SNR is calculated using Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC) principle. And finally, some of the misconceptions in 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards publications is addressed<br>

Enabling Heterogeneous IoT Networks over 5G Networks with Ultra-Dense Deployment—Using MEC/SDN

The Internet of things (IoT) is the third evolution of the traditional Internet that enables interaction and communication among machines. Many IoT platforms and networks have been developed, and recently, market sectors have started to develop specific IoT applications and services. Integrating heterogeneous IoT networks with the existing ones, mainly with the cellular networks, is a great demand. IoT represents one of the main use cases of the fifth-generation (5G) cellular system as announced by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Integrating IoT networks with 5G networks face many challenges related to dense deployment and a massive number of expected connected devices. Thus, IoT network availability and scalability are the main requirements that should be achieved. To this end, this work provides a framework for integrating heterogeneous IoT networks with the 5G networks. The proposed system considers dense deployment and system scalability and availability requirements as announced by ITU and 3GPP. Our proposed structure deploys three main communication paradigms; mobile edge computing (MEC), device-to-device communications (D2D), and software-defined networking (SDN). Our proposed system is evaluated over a reliable environment for various deployment scenarios, and the results validate the proposed structure. The proposed IoT/5G reduces the percentage of blocked tasks by an average of 30% than other traditional IoT networks. This increases the overall system availability and scalability since IoT networks can have more devices and tasks than existing IoT networks. Furthermore, our proposed structure reduces the overall consumed energy by an average of 20% than existing IoT networks, which is an effective metric for IoT networks.

Flexible Numerology in 5G NR: Interference Quantification and Proper Selection Depending on the Scenario

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) adopted cyclic prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) for both uplink and downlink communications (although DFT-s-OFDM is also allowed in the uplink) in 5G New Radio (NR) Release 15. However, due to the variety of proposed deployment options and scenarios, a single numerology will not be enough to fulfil all performance requirements. A scalable OFDM numerology was required to enable diverse services on a wide range of frequencies and deployments, and finding the right numerology for each scenario is of special relevance for the proper functioning of 5G NR. Using a simulator calibrated according to the parameters established for NR performance by the 3GPP, this paper presents the performance evaluation of NR for the main 5G scenarios and different CP-OFDM numerologies and device speeds. Results show that increasing subcarrier spacing boosts the strength of the system against intercarrier interference (ICI) caused my Doppler spread; however, to increase subcarrier spacing, the CP must be reduced proportionally, which makes intersymbol interference (ISI) and ICI caused by insufficient CP have a more predominant effect. Therefore, it is necessary to quantify the total interference of the system, in order to determine the proper numerology for each scenario, which will depend on all the factors mentioned above, and not only on the operation band, as suggested in the standardization process. All this allows concluding that the choice of the appropriate numerology for a particular system depends not only on the band of operation but also on the deployment scenario and the speed of the user equipment (UE). Likewise, it is concluded that it is even possible to use more than one numerology for the same scenario.

Analyzing SNOW and ZUC Security Algorithms Using NIST SP 800-22 and Enhancing their Randomness

Confidentiality and Integrity algorithms are based on SNOW / ZUC stream cipher algorithms. These standardized algorithms are designed by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for advanced mobile communication systems (4G-LTE Advanced, LTE Advanced Pro, and 5G-Next Generation). In this paper, twenty configurations of SNOW/ZUC algorithms are studied and analyzed to select the one with the best randomness properties. Each configuration has two different S-boxes in the Finite State Machine (FSM) layer of the SNOW algorithm and Nonlinear Function (NLF) layer of the ZUC algorithm. The two S-boxes are selected from the best five S-boxes published in kinds of literature (Rijndael, Dickson, Feistel structure, New Rijndael, and Improved New Rijndael S-boxes). The NIST SP 800-22 statistical test suite involves 15 tests that are used to assess the randomness properties of each configuration. A complete simulation of each configuration SNOW/ZUC with two different S-boxes is applied using C- language. Test results showed that the best pair arrangement of S-boxes in the SNOW algorithm is the configuration (Feistel structure - Rijndael S-boxes) although the standard configuration by 3GPP is (Rijndael - Dickson S-boxes). Also, the best configuration in the ZUC algorithm is (New Rijndael - Rijndael S-boxes) although the standard configuration by 3GPP is (Feistel structure - New Rijndael S-boxes). The best configurations passed all the NIST SP 800-22 suite randomness tests successfully.

On the Fidelity of NS-3 Simulations of Wireless Multipath TCP Connections

The multipath transmission control protocol (MPTCP) is considered a promising wireless multihoming solution, and the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) includes it as a standard feature in the fifth-generation (5G) networks. Currently, ns-3 (Network Simulator-3) is widely used to evaluate the performance of wireless networks and protocols, including the emerging MPTCP protocol. This paper investigates the fidelity of the Linux kernel implementation of MPTCP in the ns-3 direct code execution module. The fidelity of MPTCP simulation is tested by comparing its performance with a real Linux stack implementation of MPTCP using a hardware testbed for two different setups. One setup emulates the existence of a bottleneck link between the sending and receiving networks, whereas the other setup does not have such a bottleneck. The fidelity of ns-3’s simulation is tested for four congestion control algorithms, namely Cubic, linked-increases algorithm (LIA), opportunistic LIA (OLIA) and wVegas for relatively short and long data flows. It is found that the uplink MPTCP throughput performance exhibited by the ns-3 simulator matches the hardware testbed results only if the flows are long-lived and share no common bottleneck link. Likewise, the MPTCP throughput achieved during a downlink scenario using the ns-3 simulator and the hardware testbed are close to each other across all algorithms except wVegas regardless of the flow size if there is no bottleneck link. Moreover, it is observed that the impact of LTE handover on MPTCP throughput is less significant in the simulator than the real hardware testbed, and it is setup-dependent.