An improved ER scheduling algorithm based spatial reuse scheme for mmWave WPANs

This article focuses on improving the system capacity of 60GHz wireless personal area networks (WPANs) and puts forward an effective spatial reuse scheme which combines the existing exclusive region (ER) based scheduling algorithm with simple power control. In the study, the concept of ER for concurrent transmissions is introduced first. Considering the large path loss in the millimeter-wave (mmWave) band and the characteristics of typical indoor multipath channels, we modify the signal propagation model as well as ER radius for 60GHz WPANs. Then we propose an improved ER based scheduling algorithm which adopts power control instead of constant transmitting power. In the algorithm, devices are assumed to receive data at the receiver sensitivity, which refers to the minimum receiving power to ensure the reliability for communications. Computer simulations evaluate an excellent performance of the proposed spatial reuse scheme at channel capacity. In addition, the impact of the receiver sensitivity on the system is discussed.