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Naoto TSUMACHI Masaya SHIBAYAMA Ryuji KOBAYASHI Issei KANNO Yasuhiro SUEGARA
In March 2020, the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G) was launched in Japan. Frequency bands of 3.7GHz, 4.5GHz and 28GHz were allocated for 5G services, and the 5G use cases fall into three broad categories: Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) and Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC). The use cases and services that take advantage of the characteristics of each category are expected to be put to practical use, and experiments of practical use are underway. This paper introduces and demonstrates a touchless gate that can identify, authenticate and allow passage through the gate by using these features and 5G beam tracking to estimate location by taking advantage of the low latency of 5G and the straightness of the 28GHz band radio wave and its resistance to spreading. Since position estimation error due to reflected waves and other factors has been a problem, we implement an algorithm that tracks the beam and estimates the user's line of movement, and by using an infrared sensor, we made it possible to identify the gate through which the user passes with high probability. We confirmed that the 5G touchless gate is feasible for gate passage. In addition, we demonstrate that a new service based on high-speed high-capacity communication is possible at gate passage by taking advantage of the wide bandwidth of the 28GHz band. Furthermore, as a use case study of the 5G touchless gate, we conducted a joint experiment with an airline company.
Hailan PENG Toshiaki YAMAMOTO Yasuhiro SUEGARA
Heterogeneous networks (HetNet) with different radio access technologies have been deployed to support a range of communication services. To manage these HetNets efficiently, some interworking solutions such as MIH (media independent handover), ANQP (access network query protocol) or ANDSF (access network discovery and selection function) have been studied. Recently, the millimeter-wave (mm-wave) based HetNet has been explored to provide multi-gigabits-per-second data rates over short distances in the 60GHz frequency band for 5G wireless networks. WiGig (Wireless Gigabit Alliance) is one of the available radio access technologies using mm-wave. However, the conventional interworking solutions are not sufficient for the implementation of LTE (Long Term Evolution)/WiGig HetNets. Since the coverage area of WiGig is very small due to the high propagation loss of the mm-wave band signal, it is difficult for UEs to perform cell discovery and handover if using conventional LTE/WLAN (wireless local area networks) interworking solutions, which cannot support specific techniques of WiGig well, such as beamforming and new media access methods. To solve these problems and find solutions for LTE/WiGig interworking, RAN (radio access network)-level tightly coupled interworking architecture will be a promising solution. As a RAN-level tightly coupled interworking solution, this paper proposes to design a LTE/WiGig protocol adaptor above the protocol stacks of WiGig to process and transfer control signaling and user data traffic. The proposed extended control plane can assist UEs to discover and access mm-wave BSs successfully and support LTE macro cells to jointly control the radio resources of both LTE and WiGig, so as to improve spectrum efficiency. The effectiveness of the proposal is evaluated. Simulation results show that LTE/WiGig HetNets with the proposed interworking solution can decrease inter-cell handover and improve user throughput significantly. Moreover, the downlink backhaul throughput and energy efficiency of mm-wave HetNets are evaluated and compared with that of 3.5GHz LTE HetNets. Results indicate that 60GHz mm-wave HetNets have better energy efficiency but with much heavier backhaul overhead.