ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses progress on the physical layer (PHY) for next generation wireless systems, covering the range of “smart environments”. In evaluating the performance of complete wireless networks, it is rarely feasible to fully simulate the operation of the PHY of all links involved. This leads to the requirement for link abstraction, that is, the provision of models of the PHY to incorporate into system-level simulations. There are two ways to consider interference: first as a noise resulting from the activity of other devices in the networks or from other networks. It can be too complex for some simple devices to make advance signal processing to reduce the impact of this interference. Interference is, in many situations, not properly modelled with a Gaussian distribution. Interference alignment was introduced in Cadambe and Jafar as a means to allow spatial or temporal coordination among a group of users.
