The 5G radio networks have introduced major changes in terms of service requirements and bandwidth allocation compared to cellular networks to date and hence, they have made the fundamental radio planning problem even more complex. In this work, the focus is on providing a generic analysis for this problem with the help of a proper multi-objective optimization algorithm that considers the main constraints of coverage, capacity and cost for high-capacity scenarios that range from dense to ultra-dense mmWave 5G standalone small-cell network deployments. The results produced based on the above analysis demonstrate that the denser the small-cell deployment, the higher the area throughput, and that a sectored microcell configuration can double the throughput for ultra-dense networks compared to dense networks. Furthermore, dense 5G networks can actually have cell radii below 400 m and down to 120 m for the ultra-dense sectored network that also reached spectral efficiency 9.5 bps/Hz/Km 2 with no MIMO or beamforming.Keywords: radio network planning; 5G wireless communications systems; mmWave small cells
IntroductionRadio planning is an essential task for wireless networks that mainly refers to calculating the number, location and configuration of the radio network nodes. In the early days, since no prior network infrastructure existed, this task considered only the estimation of the number of base stations (BSs) and their locations, i.e., the BS location problem [1][2][3][4]. In addition, for early cellular networks, radio network planning was split into two separate tasks: coverage and capacity. Nevertheless, as it was shown in several publications (e.g., [5][6][7]), capacity and coverage planning are not un-correlated. On the contrary, they are inter-related in 3G, 4G and now 5G wireless networks and hence, they must be treated together.The 5G networks introduce really different elements from the previous generations, mainly due to virtualization and service-based architecture. Among other things, they are designed for considerably higher data rates, very large numbers of connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices and low latency while providing adaptive means for network scalability and flexibility. The number of the 5G radio frequency bands is targeted to be higher than in previous generations of cellular networks, more specifically multiple mmWave bands [8].Electronics 2020, 9, 339 2 of 10 hybrid beamforming are core techniques to achieve the targeted high data rates and the large number of devices [9].Typically the cell deployment architectures can be classified into standalone and overlay architectures. In the context of 5G, the first refers to a network deployment that consists of mere mmWave small cells, while the latter refers to the deployment of mmWave small cells on top of the existing macro-relay networks in the form of hierarchical or mixed cell structures. In the overlay architecture, the existing (pre5G) macrocell layer is mainly for coverage as well as mobility and signaling problems originating from ...
