摘要

The data demand for 5G networks is expected to be much higher than current throughput requirements. To meet this demand, a dense topology of interlinked small cells is needed. Laying new copper and fiber in such a dense network would be cost prohibitive. There is, therefore, an urgent need for high capacity wireless point-to-multipoint backhaul solutions. In this paper, we provide a compendium of solutions for ultrahigh data rate physical-layer broadcast and multicast using free space optics in 5G backhaul networks. We show that the problem of optimal multicast in mobile scenarios with highly directional optical links is a time-dependent prize collecting traveling salesman problem which is NP-hard. In formulating our problem, we develop a novel prize assignment strategy that guarantees the selection of mutually non-disjoint multicast sets. Due to the problem being NP-hard, we provide several potential heuristics for multicast in fixed and mobile scenarios, and present a comprehensive performance evaluation of the developed schemes.

  • 出版日期2018