On the Feasibility of Cellular Resource Reuse for Device-to-Device Communication under 3GPP Network Constraints

Abstract:
One of the major features to be developed in 3GPP Release 12 is direct Device-to-Device (aka D2D) communication, as a support for so-called 3GPP Proximity Services (or ProSe). The main advantage of using D2D communication in 3GPP networks is the provision of higher data rates and radio resource usage rates, thanks to the proximity of communicating users. This paper reports a feasibility study of cellular-D2D reuse of radio resource, i.e. simultaneous use for cellular and D2D links, in the context of an LTE network. Based on real constraints from recent 3GPP standardization activities, the paper investigates the conditions for such an allocation scheme to serve the expected Quality of Service (QoS) on both links. In this paper interference constraints are identified along with a possible associated LTE system design (i.e. LTE network and User Equipments), including Message Sequence Charts (MSCs) and related protocols. Finally, results from simulation are shown and analyzed to draw measurable conclusions expressed in terms of probability of reuse.