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The 3GPP standardization rapidly moves forward with studies of a wide-bandwidth waveform as well as an adaptation of the emerging 5G new radio (NR)-based access to the unlicensed spectrum (NR-U). One of the basic architectures for NR-U involves carrier aggregation of an anchor-licensed-NR carrier and a secondary carrier in unlicensed spectrum, which altogether allows for seamless traffic offloading in scenarios where multi-gigabit data rates are required. While today's research on NR-U addresses mostly physical-and protocol-layer aspects, a system-level performance of the NR-U offloading mechanisms has not been investigated thoroughly. In this paper, we develop a mathematical queuing-theoretic framework that is mindful of the specifics of millimeter-wave (mmWave) session dynamics and may serve as a flexible tool for the analysis of various strategies for the integrated use of licensed and unlicensed mmWave bands in terms of the session drop probability and system utilization. To illustrate this, we select three distinct strategies (based on sequential service, probabilistic offloading, or proportional splitting), and complement our mathematical models with a detailed performance evaluation in a representative massive augmented/virtual reality scenario. Based on this quantitative analysis of the selected schemes, we conclude that proportional splitting of traffic between the two mmWave bands leads to a better performance. We believe that the contributed mathematical analysis can become an important building block in further system development and service optimization across many usage scenarios.

Wireless traffic produced by modern mobile devices displays high temporal and spatial dynamics as users spontaneously engage in collective applications where a significant portion of generated data remains localized. As a result, conventional service provisioning approaches may no longer be sufficient in beyond fifth generation (B5G) systems. The challenge of increased dynamics on the access networks can be mitigated with moving cells. However, the deployment time of these temporary serving entities may lag behind the service demand lifetime. Another viable solution to offload excessive cellular traffic is to rely upon locally available radio resources offered by user devices via direct mmWave-based mesh interworking. An important challenge in such systems is related to the incentivization of users to partake in collaborative resource sharing. To leverage multi-hop mesh capabilities, we propose the use of emerging blockchain technology that offers cryptographically-strong accounting while maintaining the anonymity of the participants. With system-level evaluations, we demonstrate that the utilization of mobile blockchain methods allows for a non-incremental improvement in the offloading gains. This demonstrates the potential of the outlined proposal for becoming a successful mechanism in the emerging B5G systems. INDEX TERMS Mesh networks, millimeter wave communication, blockchain, Ad hoc networks, 5G mobile communication, multimedia communication.

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