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Volume 45 Issue 5
May  2023
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SHI Jianfeng, YANG Zhaohui, HUANG Nuo, CHEN Xiao, ZHANG Yujie, CHEN Ming. A Survey on User-centric Networks for 6G[J]. Journal of Electronics & Information Technology, 2023, 45(5): 1873-1887. doi: 10.11999/JEIT220242
Citation: SHI Jianfeng, YANG Zhaohui, HUANG Nuo, CHEN Xiao, ZHANG Yujie, CHEN Ming. A Survey on User-centric Networks for 6G[J]. Journal of Electronics & Information Technology, 2023, 45(5): 1873-1887. doi: 10.11999/JEIT220242

A Survey on User-centric Networks for 6G

doi: 10.11999/JEIT220242
Funds:  The Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province of China (BK20210641), The Open Research Fund of National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory, Southeast University (2021D11, 2022D10), The Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (20KJB510037, 21KJB510031), The Startup Foundation for Introducing Talent of NUIST (2020r009)
  • Received Date: 2022-03-08
  • Rev Recd Date: 2022-05-23
  • Available Online: 2022-06-01
  • Publish Date: 2023-05-10
  • Compared with the Fifth Generation mobile network (5G), the Sixth Generation mobile network (6G) is expected to introduce new performance indicators and application scenarios. Global coverage, high spectrum/energy/cost efficiency, high level of intelligence and security are leading features in 6G era. Different from traditional Base Station (BS)-centric network, the User-Centric Network (UCN) emerges as a key enabler for 6G by combining emerging technologies from information industries. In this novel framework, a comprehensive overview of physical layer, network layer and link layer is provided. As a starting point, the concepts and general architecture of the UCNs are surveied and discussed. Then, the survey is classified as: channel estimation and prediction; performance analysis with diverse performance metrics; different types of RRM (Radio Resource Management). Finally, based on extensive discussions, open issues are provided to guide future scholarly research directions. It is anticipated that this survey will provide a quick and comprehensive understanding of the current state of the arts for UCNs which attracting more researchers into this area.
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