text: In this work, we investigate the stability region, the throughput performance, and the queueing delay of an asymmetric relay-assisted cooperative random access wireless network with multipacket reception (MPR) capabilities. We consider a network of @math saturated source users that transmit packets to a common destination node with the cooperation of two relay nodes. The relays are equipped with infinite capacity buffers, and assist the users by forwarding the packets that failed to reach the destination. Moreover, the relays have also packets of their own to transmit to the destination. We assume random access of the medium and slotted time. With the relay-assisted cooperation, the packets originated by each user can be transmitted to the destination through multiple relaying paths formed by the relays. We assume that the relays employ an adaptive retransmission control mechanism. In particular, a relay node is aware of the status of the other relay, and accordingly adapts its transmission probability. Such a protocol is towards self-aware networks and leads to substantial performance gains in terms of delay. We investigate the stability region and the throughput performance for the full MPR model. Moreover, for the two-user, two-relay case we derive the generating function of the stationary joint queue-length distribution at the relays by solving a Riemann-Hilbert boundary value problem. Finally, for the symmetric case we obtain explicit expressions for the average queueing delay in a relay node without the need of solving a boundary value problem. Numerical examples are presented providing insights on the system performance.
  @cite_28: The 3GPP has raised the need to revisit the design of next generations of cellular networks in order to make them capable and efficient to provide M2M services. One of the key challenges that has been identified is the need to enhance the operation of the random access channel of LTE and LTE-A. The current mechanism to request access to the system is known to suffer from congestion and overloading in the presence of a huge number of devices. For this reason, different research groups around the globe are working towards the design of more efficient ways of managing the access to these networks in such circumstances. This paper aims to provide a survey of the alternatives that have been proposed over the last years to improve the operation of the random access channel of LTE and LTE-A. A comprehensive discussion of the different alternatives is provided, identifying strengths and weaknesses of each one of them, while drawing future trends to steer the efforts over the same shooting line. In addition, while existing literature has been focused on the performance in terms of delay, the energy efficiency of the access mechanism of LTE will play a key role in the deployment of M2M networks. For this reason, a comprehensive performance evaluation of the energy efficiency of the random access mechanism of LTE is provided in this paper. The aim of this computer-based simulation study is to set a baseline performance upon which new and more energy-efficient mechanisms can be designed in the near future.
  @cite_15: Cloud-radio access network (C-RAN) is characterized by a hierarchical structure, in which the baseband-processing functionalities of remote radio heads (RRHs) are implemented by means of cloud computing at a central unit (CU). A key limitation of C-RANs is given by the capacity constraints of the fronthaul links connecting RRHs to the CU. In this letter, the impact of this architectural constraint is investigated for the fundamental functions of random access and active user equipment (UE) identification in the presence of a potentially massive number of UEs. In particular, the standard C-RAN approach based on quantize-and-forward and centralized detection is compared to a scheme based on an alternative CU-RRH functional split that enables local detection. Both techniques leverage Bayesian sparse detection. Numerical results illustrate the relative merits of the two schemes as a function of the system parameters.
  @cite_13: Rapid growth of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications necessitates the reevaluation of the Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) performance, since the current standard is not optimized for intensive M2M traffic. A serious issue is that massive M2M arrivals can overload the LTE-A random access channel, resulting in a significant access delay. There have been a number of proposals to control this overload; however, there are no studies on the mathematical characterization of delay bounds to the best of our knowledge. Here, we derive lower bounds for the LTE-A average random access delay for both a regular traffic pattern (uniformly distributed arrivals) and for a traffic pattern, indicating a serious congestion (beta-distributed arrivals). The proposed delay bounds, which predict the minimum delay with less than 6 error, present the fundamental limits of delay that can be achieved by a practical load-balancing algorithm. This paper is also one of the first attempts toward the mathematical analysis of beta-distributed arrivals. We also analyze the effect of estimation accuracy, frequency of random access opportunities, and the number of preambles on the access delay. We show that it is possible to reduce the access delay by several orders of magnitude using an appropriate configuration of these system parameters.
  @cite_23: In this paper we examine the feasibility of semi-persistent scheduling (SPS) for voice over IP (VoIP) by random access and evaluate its performance in terms of throughput of random access and traffic channels, and random access delay. We further investigate system stability issues and present methods to stabilize the system. To see the VoIP capacity gain, we show the maximum number of acceptable VoIP terminals without exceeding some front-end packet dropping (i.e., voice clipping) probability. In addition, we examine the effect of the parameter called implicit release after in the LTE standard on the system performance, which is used for silence period detection. Our performance evaluation model based on Equilibrium Point Analysis is compared to simulations.
summary: In addition, random access recently re-gained interest due to the increased number of communicating devices in 5G networks, and the need for massive uncoordinated access @cite_28 . Random access and alternatives schemes and their effect on the operation of LTE and LTE-A are presented in @cite_28 , @cite_13 , @cite_23 . In @cite_15 , the effect of random access in Cloud-Radio Access Network is considered.