Device-to-Device Communication in Cellular Networks: A Survey

•Roadmap of D2D communication through the generations of wireless communication.•Outline of D2D communication; supporting architectures and use cases.•Integrant features (like Ultra Dense networks, millimeter wave communication, cooperative communication, network coding etc.) to enhance utility of D2D communication in the next generation networks.•Key open challenges and some important algorithms to overcome them.•Proposed architecture for optimal resource allocation and throughput maximization.

A constant need to increase the network capacity for meeting the growing demands of the subscribers has led to the evolution of cellular communication networks from the first generation (1G) to the fifth generation (5G). There will be billions of connected devices in the near future. Such a large number of connections are expected to be heterogeneous in nature, demanding higher data rates, lesser delays, enhanced system capacity and superior throughput. The available spectrum resources are limited and need to be flexibly used by the mobile network operators (MNOs) to cope with the rising demands. An emerging facilitator of the upcoming high data rate demanding next generation networks (NGNs) is device-to-device (D2D) communication. An extensive survey on device-to-device (D2D) communication has been presented in this paper, including the plus points it offers; the key open issues associated with it like peer discovery, resource allocation etc, demanding special attention of the research community; some of its integrant technologies like millimeter wave D2D (mmWave), ultra dense networks (UDNs), cognitive D2D, handover procedure in D2D and its numerous use cases. Architecture is suggested aiming to fulfill all the subscriber demands in an optimal manner. The Appendix mentions some ongoing standardization activities and research projects of D2D communication.

Graphical abstractProposed architecture for resource allocation in device-to-device (D2D) communication. In order to meet the rising subscriber demands and provide them satisfactory services, D2D communication is being looked upon as an emerging technology of the next generation networks. For optimal sharing of resources between the D2D users and cellular users in the cellular networks, a sectored antenna is used at the base station, dividing the entire coverage area into three sectors of 120° each. This supports reduction in interference between the two types of users thereby, improving system performance.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide