Development and Basic Evaluation of a 5G-Based Real-Time Full-Duplex Cellular Prototype

Full-duplex cellular (FDC), which incorporates inband full-duplex (IBFD) into a cellular system, is a candidate scheme to enhance the spectral efficiency of the mobile communication system. To realize FDC, it is necessary to reduce self-interference (SI) and control inter-user interference (IUI) by appropriate user scheduling. Many researchers have studied various technologies to overcome them, but there are few studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of IBFD with actual equipment, which works in real time. In this paper, we develop a 5G-based real-time FDC prototype, which has functions of digital SI cancellation, collecting IUI information, and flexibly changing user scheduling in real time. In addition, this system can transmit and receive arbitrary data using 5G signals even in FD operation. We evaluate its fundamental effectiveness by experiment and show that IBFD can nearly double the UL and DL throughput.