Beyond 5G is the next generation mobile communication system expected to be used from around 2030. Services in the 2030s will be composed of multiple systems provided by not only the conventional networking industry but also a wide range of industries. However, the current mobile communication system architecture is designed with a focus on networking performance and not oriented to accommodate and optimize potential systems including service management and applications, though total resource optimizations and service level performance enhancement among the systems are required. In this paper, a new concept of the Beyond 5G cross-industry service platform (B5G-XISP) is presented on which multiple systems from different industries are appropriately organized and optimized for service providers. Then, an architecture of the B5G-XISP is proposed based on requirements revealed from issues of current mobile communication systems. The proposed architecture is compared with other architectures along with use cases of an assumed future supply chain business.

In sixth-generation (6G) mobile communication system, it is expected that extreme high data rate communication with a peak data rate over 100Gbps should be provided by exploiting higher frequency bands in addition to millimeter-wave bands such as 28GHz. The higher frequency bands are assumed to be millimeter wave and terahertz wave where the extreme wider bandwidth is available compared with 5G, and hence 6G needs to promote research and development to exploit so-called terahertz wave targeting the frequency from 100GHz to 300GHz. In the terahertz wave, there are fundamental issues that rectilinearity and pathloss are higher than those in the 28GHz band. In order to solve these issues, it is very important to clarify channel characteristics of the terahertz wave and establish a channel model, to advance 6G radio access technologies suitable for the terahertz wave based on the channel model, and to develop radio-frequency device technologies for such higher frequency bands. This paper introduces a direction of studies on 6G radio access technologies to explore the higher frequency bands and technical issues on the device technologies, and then basic computer simulations in 100Gbps transmission using 100GHz band clarify a potential of extreme high data rate over 100Gbps.

In order to cope with recent growth of mobile data traffic and emerging various services, world-wide system trials for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system that dramatically extends capability of the fourth-generation mobile communication system are being performed to launch its commercial service in 2020. In addition, research and development of new radio access technologies for 5G evolution and beyond 5G systems are beginning to be made all over the world. This paper introduces our recent activities on 5G transmission experiments that aim to validate Massive MIMO technologies using higher frequency bands such as SHF/EHF bands, that is, 5G experimental trials. Recent results of 5G system trials to create new services and applications in 5G era in cooperation with partners in vertical industries are also introduced.

The next generation mobile system “5G” are under research, development and standardization for a service start of around year 2020. It is likely to use frequency bands higher than existing bands to have wider bandwidth for high throughput services. This paper reviews technical issues on higher frequency bands applying mobile systems including system trials and use case trials. It identifies expectations for antennas & propagation studies toward 5G era.

This paper proposes a radio propagation prediction method that uses point cloud data based on a hybrid of the ray-tracing (RT) method and an effective roughness (ER) model in urban environments for the fifth generation mobile communications system using high frequency bands. The proposed prediction method incorporates propagation characteristics that consider diffuse scattering from surface irregularities. The validity of the proposed method is confirmed by comparisons of measurement and prediction results gained from the proposed method and a conventional RT method based on power delay and angular profiles. From predictions based on the power delay and angular profiles, we find that the proposed method, assuming the roughness of σh=1mm, accurately predicts the propagation characteristics in the 20GHz band for urban line-of-sight environments. The prediction error for the delay spread is 2.1ns to 9.7ns in an urban environment.

In satellite/terrestrial integrated mobile communication systems (STICSs), a user terminal directly connects both terrestrial and satellite base stations. STICS enables expansion of service areas and provides a robust communication service for large disasters. However, the cell radius of the satellite system is large (approximately 100km), and thus a capacity enhancement of the satellite subsystem for accommodating many users is needed. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an application of two methods — multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission using multi-satellites and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) for STICS — to realize the performance improvement in terms of system capacity and user fairness. Through numerical simulations, we show that system capacity and user fairness are increased by the proposed scheme that applies the two methods.

As the demand for higher transmission rates and spectral efficiency is steadily increasing, the research and development of novel mobile communication systems has gained momentum. This paper focuses on providing a comprehensive survey of research and development activities on fifth generation mobile communication systems in Japan. We try to survey a vast area of wireless communication systems and the developments that led to future 5G systems.

The Satellite/Terrestrial Integrated mobile Communication System (STICS), which allows terrestrial mobile phones to communicate directly through a satellite, has been studied [1]. Satellites are unaffected by the seismic activity that causes terrestrial damage, and therefore, the STICS can be expected to be a measure that ensures emergency call connection. This paper first describes the basic characteristics of call blocking rates of terrestrial mobile phone systems in areas where non-functional base stations are geographically clustered, as investigated through computer simulations that showed an increased call blocking rate as the number of non-functional base stations increased. Further simulations showed that restricting the use of the satellite system for emergency calls only ensures the STICS's capacity to transmit emergency communications; however, these simulations also revealed a weakness in the low channel utilization rate of the satellite system [2]. Therefore, in this paper, we propose increasing the channel utilization rate with a priority channel framework that divides the satellite channels between priority channels for emergency calls and non-priority channels that can be available for emergency or general use. Simulations of this priority channel framework showed that it increased the satellite system's channel utilization rate, while continuing to ensure emergency call connection [3]. These simulations showed that the STICS with a priority channel framework can provide efficient channel utilization and still be expected to provide a valuable secondary measure to ensure emergency communications in areas with clustered non-functional base stations during large-scale disasters.

A site-general type prediction formula is created based on the measurement results in an urban area in Japan assuming that the prediction frequency range required for Fourth -- Generation (4G) Mobile Communication Systems is from 3 to 6 GHz, the distance range is 0.1 to 3 km, and the base station (BS) height range is from 10 to 100 m. Based on the measurement results, the path loss (dB) is found to be proportional to the logarithm of the distance (m), the logarithm of the BS height (m), and the logarithm of the frequency (GHz). Furthermore, we examine the extension of existing formulae such as the Okumura -- Hata, Walfisch -- Ikegami, and Sakagami formulae for 4G systems and propose a prediction formula based on the Extended Sakagami formula.

The Communications Research Laboratory (CRL) started a new project named the New Generation Mobile Network Project in April 2002. The target of this project is the development of new technologies to enable seamless and secure integration of various wireless access networks such as 3rd and 4th generation cellular, wireless LAN, high-speed mobile wireless, wired communications, and broadcasting networks. This paper presents an overview of CRL's new generation mobile communication system that is called The Multimedia Integrated Network by Radio Access Innovation Plus (MIRAI+), as well as details the role of Software Radio Technology (SDR) in MIRAI+.

This paper outlines the perspectives on Software Defined Radio (SDR) technology in viewpoint of the standardization of the future mobile communication systems. The activities of ITU-R SG8 Working Party 8F (WP8F) and mITF (mobile IT Forum) of Japan for systems beyond IMT-2000 (B3G) or 4-th generation mobile systems are firstly summarized. The latest discussions relating to SDR technology in the both parties are reported. It is followed by consideration on both expectations and technical issues on SDR in order to realize the technology in the future mobile communication systems. They are clarified in the viewpoint of standardization activity on B3G. Also some regulation issues are lastly summarized.

Radio access networks (RANs) for new generation mobile communication systems are required to construct economical high capacity networks. An optical wireless link is expected as a solution to the linking method in the construction of these networks. The optical wireless link provides high bit-rate transmission and allows for easy installation. However, optical-waves are severely attenuated in free-space transmission due to weather conditions and cannot provide a high level of link availability in long-distance communications. This paper describes the applicability of an optical wireless link to the RAN based on obtained atmosphere propagation properties from experiments on an 800-nm band optical wireless link from the viewpoint of link availability. The experimental results show that the BER performance of the optical wireless link exhibits a sufficiently low power penalty of less than 1 dB compared to that of the optical fiber link. Moreover, the results confirm that atmosphere attenuation of an 800-nm band optical wave due to fog and rainfall can be estimated by using a simple estimation equation. The optical wireless link could be used for RAN approach links with the range of less than 350 m to achieve the link outage rate of 0.004% from the viewpoint of the link budget design.

Intelligent paging uses the sequential paging technique with additional user information in order to reduce the paging delay cost and the paging load cost. Our proposed paging scheme uses distribution density information of users as required additional user information. This letter addresses an optimal paging sequence and introduces formulas to calculate the paging costs. These formulas are necessary to evaluate the performance of location management. The paging delay cost and the paging load cost for the proposed paging scheme and two other paging schemes are calculated and numerical analyses for these paging schemes are performed. Results show how the paging delay cost and the paging load cost vary as either the paging request arrival rates or the number of cells in an LA increases. The proposed paging scheme is more efficient in view of both the paging delay cost and the paging load cost.

DS-CDMA provides a flexible support for the low-to-high bit rate of multimedia services upon a specific user's request. A simple capacity expression is derived for a power-controlled reverse link of orthogonal multi-code DS-CDMA with multiple connections. It is found that an orthogonal multi-code user having multiple connections is equivalent to a single connection user, but with a spreading factor reduced by a factor of the total number of parallel codes and a required signal energy per symbol-to-interference plus noise power spectrum density ratio which is the average taken over multiple connections. Furthermore, the use of antenna diversity is found equivalent to the use of higher spreading factor increased by a factor of the number of antennas.

The plan of High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) is considered as a revolutionary wireless system plan with several economic and technological advantages over both space- or ground-based counterparts. In this paper, we propose a joint system of terrestrial and HAPS cellular for Wideband-CDMA mobile communication. This system makes the conventional terrestrial W-CDMA cellular area smaller and the remainder area covered by HAPS to increase the total capacity. Furthermore in down link channel, we introduce the polarized wave and doughnut-like radiation. However, in the proposed system, the performance would be dependent on the terminal position especially near the boundary of doughnut-like cell zone. To overcome this, site diversity that uses both signals from terrestrial Base Station and HAPS Base Station is also introduced. To confirm the availability of the proposed system, we evaluate the system performance by computer simulation.

This paper assesses the performance of the handoff algorithm based on distance and RSSI measurements in a multi-cellular environment by computer simulation. The algorithm performs a handoff if handoff initiation conditions, handoff possible conditions, and handoff selective conditions are met. The performance criteria are based on the average number of handoffs, the crossover points and the average number of outages. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the algorithm. The performance of the distance-assisted handoff algorithm is compared with that of a conventional algorithm that utilizes signal strength alone. Overall, the distance-assisted algorithm exhibits higher performance in average number of handoffs and the crossover points, yet exhibits a higher number of outages on average than the conventional algorithm.

Since mobile communication systems using optical rays (optical mobile communication systems) do not radiate radio waves from the mobile terminals, they are expected to be used in environments containing sensitive electronic equipment. However, the placement and direction of the optical receivers must be suitably determined for mobile communication because light has high directivity. In optical mobile communication systems, the communication quality varies with the direction of the mobile terminal. Therefore, we examined the angle over which communication is possible at various measurement points and defined it as the communication angle. The mean opinion score (MOS) was obtained to assess the communication quality using the communication angle as a parameter. In this paper, the two situations, walking and sitting down, was considered the way optical mobile communication systems actually used. We found that for walking, when the communication angle was over 180 degrees, the MOS was over 3 and over 50% of users could communicate usefully. When used sitting down, the communication quality did not depend on the communication angle, but only on whether or not the user could communicate in the direction he/she was facing. Thus, if the communication angle in the service area is over 180 degrees, it is possible to communicate in practical situations, even while walking.

In this paper, we propose a preemptive priority handoff scheme for integrated voice/data cellular mobile systems. In our scheme, calls are divided into three different classes: handoff voice calls, originating voice calls, and data calls. In each cell of the system there is a queue only for data calls. Priority is given to handoff voice calls over the other two kinds of calls. That is, the right to preempt the service of data is given to a handoff voice call if on arrival it finds no idle channels. The interrupted data call returns to the queue. The system is modeled by a two-dimensional Markov chain. We apply the Successive Over-Relaxation (SOR) method to obtain the equilibrium state probabilities. Blocking and forced termination probabilities for voice calls are obtained. Moreover, average queue length and average transmission delay of data calls are evaluated. The results are compared with another handoff scheme for integrated voice/data cellular mobile systems where some numbers of channels are reserved for voice handoff calls. It is shown that, when the data traffic is not very light, the new scheme can provide lower blocking probability for originating voice calls, lower forced termination probability for ongoing voice calls, and shorter average queue length and less average transmission delay for data calls.

This paper presents an improved neural network for channel assignment problems in cellular mobile communication systems in the new co-channel interference model. Sengoku et al. first proposed the neural network for the same problem, which can find solutions only in small size cellular systems with up to 40 cells in our simulations. For the practical use in the next generation's cellular systems, the performance of our improved neural network is verified by large size cellular systems with up to 500 cells. The newly defined energy function and the motion equation with two heuristics in our neural network achieve the goal of finding optimum or near-optimum solutions in a nearly constant time.

In mobile communication systems using Dynamic Channel Assignment, channels are possible to be rearranged so that blocking probability can be made low. The smaller the number of cells where channels are rearranged, the smaller the load on the base stations in the cells. Also, we can reduce the deterioration of communication quality caused by reassingning a new channel to a call instead of the channel already assigned. In this paper, we consider not only how to rearrange channels but also which channel should be rearranged and assigned to a new call in rearrangement, and propose very simple but effective methods for rearrangement. The ways to select a candidate channel to be rearranged and assigned to a new call in the new methods make the number of cells where a channel is rearranged smaller. We also examine the relations between characteristics and the number of cells where a channel is rearranged. Using computer simulation results, the properties of the new rearrangement methods are compared with those of the traditional methods.