Cluster-Based Timing Synchronization Method for Device-to-Device Communication

Device-to-Device (D2D) communication technology has emerged as an interesting and important area nowadays. In D2D system, Synchronization is a key technology which can ensure effective discovery. There has been extensive research on synchronization method in the context of ad hoc networks during the last few years. However, few of them seems suitable for the D2D communication since they perform badly when there are massive devices. Therefore, a cluster-based timing synchro-nization method for D2D communication with infrastructure is proposed in this paper. The method, which utilize the random access process used in LTE system and build synchronization cluster according to UEs' transmission power and battery level, can achieve timing synchronization quickly and easily without complex operation. From the simulation results, we verified that the proposed method can reduce the heavy burden of eNodeB in massive devices scenario compare with classic timing synchro-nization methods. In the meantime, the D2D devices in RRC_idle state can get timing synchronization easily using the proposed method.