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A Critical Review of 3GPP Standardization of Device-to-Device

Communication in Cellular Networks

Article in SN Computer Science · October 2019

DOI: 10.1007/s42979-019-0045-5

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https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-019-0045-5

SURVEY ARTICLE

A Critical Review of 3GPP Standardization of Device‑to‑Device

Communication in Cellular Networks
Udit Narayana Kar1 · Debarshi Kumar Sanyal2

Received: 10 July 2019 / Accepted: 11 October 2019

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd 2019

Abstract
Device-to-device (D2D) communication is rapidly evolving into a viable method of information exchange in a cellular
network. It has a very low end-to-end latency and can increase spectral efficiency of a cellular network. The latest releases
of 3GPP specification have given considerable attention to standardize this mode of communication and integrate it in the
ecosystem of LTE advanced. This will give more impetus to the development of D2D technologies and their adoption by
mobile operators. This paper presents a discussion and critical analysis of the main features of D2D communication as defined
in Release 12 and subsequent releases of 3GPP specifications.

Keywords Device-to-device (D2D) · 3GPP · LTE-direct · LTE-advanced · Cellular network · 5G

Introduction
One of the biggest challenges faced by telecom operators is
the continuous increase in demand for high data rate and low
end-to-end delay. One way to achieve it is through device-to-
device (D2D) communication. D2D communication enables
direct communication between proximate devices bypassing
the base station. As D2D communication promises ultra-low
latency for communication among the users, it has attracted
great attention from researchers working on the forthcoming
5th generation cellular networks [24, 25]. D2D communica-
tion can operate using both licensed cellular spectrum and
unlicensed spectrum; the two modes are known as in-band
communication and out-band communication, respectively.
In the first case, the D2D communication and the cellular
communication can both operate over the entire licensed
cellular spectrum; this is known as the underlay D2D com-
munication mode. But it leads to heightened interference
* Udit Narayana Kar
uditnarayankar@gmail.com
Debarshi Kumar Sanyal
debarshisanyal@gmail.com
1
School of Computer Engineering, Kalinga Institute
of Industrial Technology (Deemed to be University),
Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751024, India
2
Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur,
Kharagpur 721302, India
across the D2D users and the cellular users. To avoid this
problem, a new approach known as the overlay D2D com-
munication mode has been proposed that allows the D2D
users to use a certain fraction of cellular resources that is
not assigned to the normal cellular users. The overlay mode
focuses on the effective resource allocation, so the spec-
trum wastage can be avoided. In terms of performance, D2D
communication, when it is technically feasible, offers more
benefits compared to the conventional cellular communica-
tion. First, it is a transparent communication technique and is
very efficient with a high spectral efficiency and low latency.
Therefore, managing local traffic becomes easy for the user
equipments (UEs) communicating directly in a given prox-
imity. Computational offloading is one more benefit of D2D
communication. D2D users under a static network environ-
ment can use D2D links to offload computation-heavy tasks
to nearby D2D users [34]. In D2D communication, the mode
selection technique allows the devices to switch from the
infrastructure path to direct path easily. This reduces the
congestion in the network. From an econometric point of
view, D2D communication can play a big role in commercial
applications, social networking applications, e-commerce,
etc., where users can directly share the required information
locally [32, 31].
Researchers have proposed many novel applications
and models for D2D communication. The 3rd Genera-
tion Partnership Project (3GPP) has adopted a relatively
simple architecture that fits easily in the existing long

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term evolution-advanced (LTE-A) ecosystem so it can be
adopted seamlessly by cellular operators. The integration
of D2D communication into LTE-A began with the 3GPP
Release 12. In the USA, this release has been adopted for
the next-generation public safety network with a 700 MHz
of dedicated spectrum allocated by Federal Communica-
tions Commission (FCC) [29]. The following releases
of 3GPP standards have enhanced the support for D2D
communication.
This paper gives an overview of the standardization of
D2D communication based on 3GPP Release 12 and sub-
sequent 3GPP releases. We describe the general features
of 3GPP releases in the context of D2D communication
in Sect. 2. Section 3 illustrates the use case scenarios. We
describe the reference architecture in Sect. 4, channel struc-
ture in Sect. 5, and the core features of D2D communication
as outlined in the 3GPP Release 12 in Sect. 6. We present a
critical discussion in Sect. 7 and conclude in Sect. 8.
Features of 3GPP Releases
General Features
Standardization of technologies is very important as it
ensures their interoperability across products and services
manufactured by different vendors. Standardization makes
the technology commercially viable [41]. The 3GPP stand-
ards organization develops protocols for mobile telephony.
It has made monumental contributions in developing and
maintaining telecommunications standards from 2G to 5G.
Figure 1 shows the current and upcoming 3GPP releases
along with their year of release and current status. The initial
LTE architecture was standardized as 3GPP LTE Release
8/9. Releases 8 and 9 both used a bandwidth of 1.4 MHz,
3 MHz, 5 MHz, 15 MHz, and 20 MHz to support various
deployment scenarios. LTE-advanced or LTE-A arrived
with 3GPP Release 10, which focused on enhancing the
network capacity using carrier aggregation techniques [20].
It enhanced the overall bandwidth of existing cellular net-
works by combining two or more component carriers for
higher data rates [58]. Coordinated multipoint transmission
and reception (CoMP), and heterogeneous deployments
(HetNet) are supported since 3GPP Release 11. Network
capacity enhancement, increase in coverage area, cell
coordination, and cost reduction are some of the impor-
tant enhancements in 3GPP Release 12. Along with that,
3GPP Release 12 introduced D2D communication in the
LTE-A architecture; its major targeted application is public
safety. Release 13 added support for other D2D functions
and unveiled the first set of specifications covering mission
critical services. Release 14 focused on mission critical
enhancements and LTE support for vehicular (V2X) service.
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Fig. 1  3GPP Releases. The circles along the periphery show the
3GPP releases and the year (or tentative year) of publication of the
corresponding release. Blue circles indicate frozen releases, while
orange circles indicate open ones (color figure online)
The most important feature of Release 15 is the support for
5G radio systems. Work on Release 16 is in progress; it
aims to increase support of vertical industries such as V2X,
public safety, and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) [37].
Although the 3GPP releases specify a bevy of features for
cellular communication, in the subsequent sections of this
paper we concentrate on its D2D specifications exclusively.
Features Specific to D2D Communication
Key Motivations for D2D Communication
3GPP Release 12 focuses on developing a communication
framework to meet public safety needs that can be used by
police, fire fighters, ambulance drivers and other person-
nel handling emergency situations. The goal is to reduce
dependency on network infrastructure that can fail in times
and areas of disaster, limit operational costs, and enable
broadband communication. It supports two key technolo-
gies as explained below [9].
1. Proximity services (ProSe): Proximity services in 3GPP
Release 12 allow devices in physical proximity to dis-
cover each other and communicate in an optimized
manner. They are essentially supported with D2D com-
munication that comprises D2D discovery and direct
communication. In D2D discovery, a UE discovers
another UE in its proximity. D2D discovery may be
performed at the EPC level or done directly by the UEs.
In direct communication, two UEs that have discovered
each other communicate directly via the LTE air inter-
face without routing the signal through the eNodeB
SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
(eNB) and the core network. This avoids network con-
gestion and allows devices to communicate even when
the network coverage is absent. Note that device discov-
ery is not a prerequisite to direct communication as the
latter can also happen through broadcasting. Proximity
services can be used for both public safety and com-
mercial applications.
2. Group communication: To meet public safety demands,
group communication is considered as one of the most
important requirements. It provides services like one-
to-many calling that can easily disseminate messages
to a large group of people. 3GPP standardization and
releases have focused heavily on the enhancement of
group communications techniques. Generally in group
communication, all UEs in a group receive a common
downlink stream to communicate. Therefore, the overall
resource utilization can be optimized. To enable effi-
cient and flexible group communication, 3GPP stand-
ardization activities have consistently paid attention to
optimized broadcast and multicast techniques. Note that
group communication can be achieved with D2D com-
munication, or with existing or enhanced 3GPP mul-
timedia broadcast/multicast services (MBMS) in LTE/
LTE-A.
Scenarios for D2D Communication
3GPP Release 12 defines features that support D2D com-
munication with or without the help of eNB and the core
network. In particular, three coverage scenarios are consid-
ered as shown in Fig. 2.
1. In-coverage: In this type of communication, all UEs are
in the coverage of the eNB.
Fig. 2  D2D communication scenarios supported in 3GPP Release 12
Page 3 of 18 37
2. Out-of-coverage: In this scenario, none of the UEs are
under the coverage of the eNB.
3. Partial-coverage: In partial-coverage, some UEs are in
coverage of the eNB while other UEs are not. UEs in-
coverage communicate with UEs not under the coverage
of the eNB.
3GPP Release 12 supports D2D discovery for only in-
coverage scenario in public safety and commercial use (i.e.,
non-public safety). Release 13 extends D2D discovery to
all 3 scenarios in case of public safety. 3GPP Release 12
supports direct communication for all 3 scenarios. Note
that direct communication between UEs occurs through
broadcast (without feedback channels) at layer 1. At layer
2, destination UE identifier (in short, UE ID) is used for
unicast transmission and Group ID is leveraged for groupcast
transmission.
Other Characteristics of D2D Communication in 3GPP
3GPP Release 13 adds support for UE-to-network relay at
layer 3 as shown in Fig. 3. It helps to increase the coverage
of the network [30]. Release 13 also introduces ProSe per
packet priority (PPPP) to support QoS across traffic streams.
The subsequent 3GPP releases study how D2D links can
be exploited for other applications like IIoT and how their
quality can be improved.
D2D Use Cases
3GPP Release 12 discusses D2D communication as a
mechanism for proximity services (ProSe) and formulates
procedures for D2D discovery and D2D communication.
As shown in Fig. 4, D2D use cases encompass both public
safety use and commercial applications. Group communica-
tion, a prominent feature of the public safety use case, is one
Fig. 3  Relay-aided D2D communication scenarios supported in 3GPP
Release 13
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Fig. 4  Use cases for D2D communication in 3GPP Release 12
of the thrust areas in 3GPP standardization and D2D is one
way to achieve it. D2D communication between UEs may
be 1:many or 1:1. In 1:1 communication, a device trans-
mits data directly to a specific receiver, whereas 1:many is a
groupcast or group communication service between devices
[41].
As far as D2D communication scenarios are concerned,
various new terminologies are defined under 3GPP Release
12 [4, 51]. Some of the most important terms are
• ProSe-Enabled UEs: ProSe-enabled UEs are the UEs
which support the requirements and procedures for
proximity services as defined in 3GPP Release 12. They
may be associated with both public safety and non-pub-
lic safety applications. The ProSe-enabled public safety
UEs can be used for both public safety and other ProSe
services, whereas ProSe-enabled non-public safety UEs
cannot be used for public safety ProSe services.
• ProSe discovery: ProSe discovery is a mechanism in
which a UE discovers other UEs in a given proximity
using Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Net-
work (E-UTRAN). This ProSe discovery can be either
open discovery or restricted discovery. In open dis-
covery mechanism, UEs discover each other without
any authorization. In restricted discovery mechanism,
UEs need to acquire permissions to discover the nearby
devices. Similarly, network-assisted ProSe discovery is
a mechanism where the mobile network operator verifies
if the UE is authorized to discover another UE or not.
The assistance is provided by the Evolved Packet Core
(EPC) and the mechanism called EPC-level ProSe dis-
covery since the EPC determines and informs the ProSe-
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Fig. 5  MUCC communication (from [36])
enabled UEs about their proximity. 3GPP Release 12 also
allows network-independent discovery of UEs where they
perform the discovery procedure autonomously, without
assistance from the network. Therefore, it is useful when
both UEs lie outside the network coverage.
• Switching between two different communication paths:
This is a very important use case of 3GPP Release 12. In
this case, the operator can easily switch the user traffic
from an infrastructure path to a ProSe communication
path. Therefore, all the proximity criteria can be dynami-
cally controlled by the operator.
• ProSe-Based WLAN and WiFi-Direct: In this use case,
there is a direct communication between ProSe-ena-
bled UEs and WLAN under WiFi-Direct communica-
tions. Here, the operator can switch the network session
between infrastructure path and WLAN ProSe commu-
nication path.
Apart from public safety, various other use cases for D2D
communication are envisaged in the 3GPP standards. We
enlist some of them below.
• Multiuser cooperative communication (MUCC) in Het-
Nets: a simplified diagram of MUCC is given in Fig. 5.
In this case, there are two users categorized as the ben-
efited user and the supporting user. The benefited user
lies under a weak network signal, whereas the supporting
user is under a strong network signal; the latter helps
the former in improving its signal. There are two paths
defined, one is from the benefited user to the eNB and
another from the supporting user to the small cell. The
benefited user and the supporting user communicate with
each other using LTE-A D2D communication.
• D2D offloading: D2D provides opportunistic data off-
loading facility that can reduce the overall network over-
SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
head. This also allows the network operators to save the
spectrum resources and optimize the downlink transmis-
sion overhead for the network operators. If one UE with
a poor channel conditions identifies a neighboring UE
in its close proximity with a good channel condition, the
former can offload its data to the latter using D2D com-
munication and data can be relayed further with the help
of cellular communication [43, 44].
• V2V communication and V2X communication (LTE-V):
In 3GPP standardization, D2D-based V2V network is
an active area of investigation. A feasibility study has
been conducted in Release 13. A vehicle running at high
speed can warn nearby vehicles using D2D links before
it changes the lane. Depending on the received message,
the nearby vehicles can slow down and avoid accidents.
Based on the Release 12 sidelink communication pro-
tocols, Release 14 specified V2X communication in the
year 2017. V2X in 3GPP release 14 supports vehicle-
to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P), vehicle-
to-infrastructure (V2I) and vehicle-to-network (V2N)
communication [14]. Both cellular communication and
D2D communication are part of LTE-V services. Vehicle
platooning, automated and remote driving are some of
the extended features of V2X communication supported
by 3GPP release 15. In comparison to conventional cel-
lular communication, the LTE-V is somewhat different
in terms of deployment and traffic characteristics. Inter-
ference coordination, collision avoidance, and efficient
resource allocation are some of the biggest challenges in
LTE-V communication.
• Security in data communication: D2D communication
allows uses to receive data that are saved in the nearby
trusted UEs. This avoids accessing potentially insecure
links to third-party databases like those in the cloud.
Hence, it can provide a great deal of security.
• Machine type communication or MTC: D2D commu-
nication protocols specified in LTE-A 3GPP standards
provides a promising solution for MTC. 3GPP Release
13 and above allow cellular operators to multiplex the
bandwidth between MTC devices and regular devices
[45].
• Indoor installation and positioning: Indoor positioning is
one of the key features in 3GPP Release 13. Earlier the
accuracy level of indoor positioning was low and it was
a great concern for the operators. Basically, in indoor
conditions multipath propagation is difficult. Therefore,
3GPP is consistently working to facilitate both location
service and mission critical voice service on LTE devices
based on the ProSe D2D standard.
• Enhancement of D2D for UE-to-network relaying: The
3GPP release 15 focuses on the enhancements of D2D
communication for network relaying.
Page 5 of 18 37
  The main aim is to retain the connectivity between the
remote devices like sensors or smart wearables and the
network through a relay-assisted D2D communication.
• Maritime communication: Activities on 3GPP Release
16 focus on the development of a maritime communica-
tion system known as LTE-Maritime. The overall cov-
erage area will be up to 100 kilometers and there will
be seamless communication between the existing 3GPP
system and the maritime radio communication system.
It will also support voice communication and data com-
munication between different vessels at sea [19]. This
inter-vehicular communication can occur using D2D
communication technology.
Reference Architecture for D2D
Communication
Figure 6 gives a detailed architecture of 3GPP Release 12
that identifies the main components and the reference points
of the system. Some of the most important entities of the
given architecture are
1. ProSe App server: The ProSe App server consists of the
basic capabilities of ProSe (e.g., public safety answering
point or PSAP) used for public safety or various com-
mercial use cases. The application server can directly
communicate with an application defined in UE and it
is generally defined outside of the 3GPP architecture.
2. ProSe UE App: It is an application in a UE that can use
ProSe capability.
3. ProSe Function: The ProSe Function acts as the refer-
ence point for ProSe App Server, EPC and UEs. Verifi-
cation, authorization and configuration of UEs are the
basic functionalities of ProSe Functions. It also allows
EPC level discovery for direct communication between
devices.
As discussed in Sect. 3, the use cases for D2D commu-
nication not only support public safety services but also
can be very helpful for social and commercial applications.
Release 12 supports urgent D2D communications especially
for public safety communications. Some of the important
functionalities are
1. It gives the complete permission to the Home Public
land mobile network (HPLMN) operator to authorize
all the ProSe-enabled UEs to use the ProSe communica-
tion path separately for HPLMNs and visited public land
mobile networks (VPLMNs).
2. The architecture of 3GPP Release 12 is so well designed
that it can control the ProSe-enabled UEs communicat-
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Fig. 6  D2D architecture in
3GPP specification
ing together, irrespective of whether they are being
served by the same eNB or different eNBs.
3. It grants permission to the operator to authenticate and
authorize the third-party applications before they use the
ProSe features.
Therefore, to support the above conditions various reference
points are given in the architecture shown in Fig. 6.
1. PC1: In D2D communication, various types of ProSe
applications can be installed and used in a UE. The
PC1 interface allows the ProSe applications to
exchange data with the ProSe application server.
2. PC2: The PC2 interface normally allows ProSe Func-
tion to update its ProSe application data for ProSe
database. This will help the EPC to support all the
ProSe functionalities used for direct communication.
3. PC3: The PC3 is the reference point between the UE
and ProSe Function; it acts as an interface for D2D
discovery and communication. If due to any reason two
devices are connected to different PLMNs, the D2D
discovery mechanism will completely rely upon PC3.
4. PC4: The communication between the ProSe Func-
tion and the EPC occurs through PC4. Session control
and mobility management are also handled by the PC4
interface.
5. Uu: The Uu interface supports uplink and downlink
transmissions between the eNB and a UE.
6. PC5: To enable direct communication between a
pair of UEs, the PC5 interface is used. It allows D2D
communication in scenarios like in-coverage, out-of-
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coverage and partial-coverage. PC5 supports sidelink
transmission at layer 1.
7. PC6: If the UEs are registered under different PLMNs
and with multiple ProSe Functions, then the D2D dis-
covery mechanism can be done using the PC6 inter-
face.
8. PC7: It is the interface between different ProSe func-
tionalities in the visiting PLMN and the home PLMN.
It also helps the home PLMN to handle the authoriza-
tion of ProSe services.
9. PC8: The PC8 interface is used for ProSe Function
in HPLMN to configure D2D communication of UEs.
It acts as an interface between the ProSe Function of
HPLMN and a roaming UE.
10. S1: It is the interface between the eNB and the EPC.
11. SGi: SGi is the interface used for exchange of applica-
tion level data and control information between the
EPS and the ProSe application server.
Thus, UEs communication between a pair of UEs is executed
over the PC5 interface. If a UE is out of the coverage area of
eNB, but the signal strength is good enough for the UEs to
communicate with each other, then they can exchange data
directly among themselves by creating an ad hoc network;
here, UEs communicate using a lower level interface called
PC5ah [30].
SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
Basic Channel Structure
In the previous section, we have seen that UEs can com-
municate directly with each other using the sidelink (SL)
(which corresponds to the PC5 interface in terms of the ref-
erence architecture). It is a new feature in 3GPP Release 12
and is distinct from the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) on
the Uu interface over which a UE communicates with the
eNB.
Reuse of Uplink Resources
The SL supports a new set of physical signals, physical chan-
nels, transport channels, logical channels, and messages.
Since a UE transmits on the SL, the latter closely resembles
the UL. Before we discuss the details of SL, we note that
broadcast in D2D communication reuses the Physical Uplink
Shared Channel (PUSCH) through the eNB-UE (Uu) link in
LTE. The reasons are as follows. When the eNB is receiv-
ing data in PUSCH from a UE, another UE in proximity can
engage in direct communication with its peer if the interfer-
ence caused at the latter is not too high. The interference
that the transmitter UE in D2D communication causes at the
eNB can be handled by the latter as it is considerably more
powerful. Instead, if D2D communication reuses the Physi-
cal Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), the D2D UE trans-
mitter will produce high co-channel interference to the UE
receiving data on the downlink from the eNB. Moreover, UL
frames are usually less utilized than DL frames. So using the
UL will increase spectral efficiency. PUSCH uses single car-
rier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) whereas
PDSCH uses orthogonal frequency division multiple access
(OFDMA) that has a higher PAPR than that of SC-FDMA.
Hence, using PUSCH incurs lower power consumption [30].
The downside is that constructing an SC-FDMA receiver is
more difficult than constructing an OFDMA transmitter as
the former needs a complex equalization. An important type
of signal is the DeModulation Reference Signal (DMRS),
transmitted on a fixed symbol position in each slot (in time
domain) of PUSCH, that a receiver UE uses to estimate
the channel. DMRS signals are also associated with the SL
channels defined below (Fig. 7).
Physical Channels
The physical channels or layer 1 channels that are part of
the SL are
1. Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH): If the
eNB and the UEs in a cellular network are synchronized
to the same timing reference, the network usually per-
Page 7 of 18 37
Fig. 7  D2D channel structure
forms more efficiently (e.g., power consumption and
interference would be low) than if they are not synchro-
nized. The primary/secondary synchronization signal
(PSS/SSS) is the synchronization signal sent out by the
eNB in LTE, and is also used as synchronization sig-
nal for D2D communication if the UEs are within the
eNB coverage. Instead, if both the UEs are not inside
the eNB coverage, they can still synchronize to the
Primary/Secondary Sidelink Synchronization Signals
(PSSS/SSSS) transmitted by one of the UEs; if one of
the UEs is in network coverage, it can send PSSS/SSSS
based on the eNB synchronization signal. The eNB or
the UE that transmits its own synchronization signal is
called a D2D synchronization source. The PSSS/SSSS is
sent out on the PSBCH. The PSBCH from a UE is also
used to broadcast information like the ID and type (i.e.,
whether it is eNB or UE) of the synchronization source,
the system bandwidth, the TDD or FDD configuration,
the frame and subframe number of the synchronization
signal, and whether the UE lies in network coverage.
2. Physical Sidelink Discovery Channel (PSDCH): A UE
discovers another UE in its proximity with the discovery
signal in layer 1, transmitted via the PSDCH. Note that
the discovery procedure is initiated by the application
layer of a UE. The radio resources for transmitting the
discovery signal may be shared by all UEs or may be
allocated on a per-UE basis by the eNB. Only the first of
the two methods can be used when the UEs are outside
the eNB coverage.
3. Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH): PSCCH
is responsible for uplink transmission control. The D2D
transmitter transmits a sidelink control information
(SCI) that includes modulation and coding schemes, the
frequency hopping flag, the resource block allocation,
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the hopping resource allocation, and the timing assistant
to differentiate between the uplink time and downlink
time [40].
4. Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH): A UE
sends data to other UEs in D2D communication via
the PSSCH. The PSSCH follows the PSCCH in time
domain. The SCI message transmitted in the PSCCH
announces the PSSCH resources where the data trans-
mission will occur. For in-coverage UEs, PSSCH
resources may be allocated by the eNB, or selected ran-
domly and autonomously by the UEs from a resource
pool pre-configured by the eNB for this purpose. In case
of out-of-coverage UEs, PSSCH resources are chosen
randomly by the UEs from a resource pool. There is a
possibility of conflict when resources are chosen autono-
mously by the UEs.
Transport Channels
1. Sidelink Broadcast Channel (SL-BCH): SL-BCH is the
transport channel that maps to the PSBCH in the physi-
cal layer. The SL-BCH carries some important informa-
tion needed for out-of-coverage devices to setup side-
link connectivity. The required information is carried
through Sidelink Master Information Block (SL-MIB).
The information carried out in SL-MIB consists of car-
rier bandwidth, TDD configuration, transmitted frame
number and in-coverage indicator [8].
2. Sidelink Shared Channel (SL-SCH): SL-SCH follows
the same techniques as downlink shared channel. It is a
transport that may have chances of collision depending
upon the resources assigned through eNB. It also inter-
faces physical sidelink shared channel, that transports
data from air.
3. Sidelink Discovery Channel (SL-DCH): The SL-DCH
belongs to the transport layer of basic channel structure
of sidelink communications and is used for discovery
announcements. It is directly mapped with PSDCH in
physical layer [8]. Depending on the sidelink transport
format, the sidelink physical layer processing is con-
figured and processed by the UE. The basic function
of SL-DCH is the scheduling of resource allocation. If
the scheduled resources allocation of SL-DCH is non-
autonomous, then the complete scheduling is done by
the network side, else the scheduling is done by the UE
side [11].
4. Sidelink Control Information (SCI): The SCI gener-
ally carries all the relevant information required for the
receiving UE. It also helps the UE in demodulating the
physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).
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Logical Channels
1. Sidelink Traffic Channel (STCH): Side link traffic chan-
nel is a point-to-multipoint logical channel that is used
to transfer user information from one UE to other UE.
2. Sidelink Broadcast Control Channel (SBCCH): SBCCH
is a logical channel that broadcasts the sidelink system
information from one UE to another UE.
Important Features of D2D Communication
in 3GPP
To enable efficient direct transmission between two UEs,
it is very important that they are synchronized and can dis-
cover each other easily. Hence, D2D synchronization, D2D
discovery, and direct communication are the most important
features in 3GPP specification. In this section, we explain
them in detail.
D2D Synchronization
The synchronization procedure for D2D communication
in 3GPP Release 12 consists of a few simple steps [30]:
(1) After a UE powers on, if it detects a synchronization
signal (PSS/SSS) from an eNB, it synchronizes to it. (2)
Otherwise, if it detects synchronization signals (PSSS/SSSS)
and PSBCH from other UEs, it synchronizes to the signals
from one of them. (3) Otherwise, it becomes a D2D syn-
chronization source and transmits synchronization signals
and PSBCH. The first case occurs when the UE is under the
coverage of an eNB while the other cases occur if the UE is
not under the coverage of an eNB. In case (1), if a UE has
synchronized to an eNB but has detected synchronization
signal and PSBCH from a UE (as indicated by the source
type in the synchronization signal), it understands that there
is an out-of-coverage UE that is acting as a synchronization
source. Hence, it becomes a D2D synchronization source
itself so the out-of-coverage UEs can synchronize to the
eNB. The above cases are illustrated in Fig. 8.
D2D Discovery
A UE has to discover a neighboring UE in close proximity
before it can communicate with it directly. Alternatively,
D2D discovery can be used as a standalone service enabler,
e.g., it can be used to get information like whether there is a
vehicle nearby; once the appropriate information is discov-
ered from a nearby UE, the discoverer can use it for other
applications provided it is permitted to do so. Device dis-
covery is essentially an application layer procedure where
specific messages are exchanged between two UEs. At
layer 1, UEs use PSDCH for device discovery. The device
SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
Fig. 8  D2D synchronization
2. Direct discovery: The network-assisted discovery mech-
discovery techniques are categorized into the following two
types based on whether the eNB assists it.
1. Network-assisted discovery or EPC-level discovery: In
EPC-level discovery, the eNB acts an entrusted facilita-
tor in determining the proximity of UEs. The proximity
of the UEs is derived from the frequent location updates.
Fig. 9  D2D EPC-level discov-
ery (from [40])
Page 9 of 18 37
As shown in the Fig. 9, UE A makes a proximity request,
i.e., a request to be alerted with the proximity of UE
B. In response to the request of UE A, ProSe Function
A requests the Secure User Plane Location Platform
(SLP)-A about the location updates of both UE A and
B. To generate the location of UE B, ProSe Function A
contacts ProSe Function B. The generated report is then
forwarded to the EPC. The EPC informs the requesting
devices about their proximity and initiates a proximity
alert in PC3 interface [12, 40]. Clearly, the main task
here is to analyze the location of UEs in the network and
alert the corresponding the interested users. This task is
managed by the EPC. Thus, EPC-level device discov-
ery reduces periodical announcements for the UEs and,
hence, their power consumption. The above network-
assisted discovery mechanism can work only if network
coverage is available. When coverage is not available,
direct discovery may be performed.
anism can work only if network coverage available. If
the network access fails the D2D discovery procedure
cannot sustain [60]. Hence, to overcome such type of
problem direct discovery mechanism has been provided
in 3GPP Release 12. The direct discovery procedure can
work for both in-coverage and out-of coverage scenarios.
It is the procedure by which a UE detects and identifies
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another UE physically close to it, using E-UTRA direct
radio signals. Depending on whether the discoverer
needs explicit permission from the discovery, it is of
two types:
(a) Open discovery: No special authorization is
needed by the discoverer UE from the remote UE
being discovered.
(b) Restricted discovery: For discovering the remote
UE, explicit permission is needed by the discov-
erer from the remote UE.
  In direct discovery, there are two discovery models—
Model A and Model B—and corresponding messages
for device discovery.
(a) Model A (“I am here”): In this model, the
announcing UE broadcasts the discovery mes-
sages at predetermined intervals of time. Monitor-
ing and announcement are two important steps in
direct discovery. In the announcement procedure,
the UEs intended to discover the nearby devices
announce the required information. The other UEs
in the given proximity with discovery authoriza-
tion can use this information. The interested users
can monitor and process them as shown in Fig. 10.
Model A supports both open and restricted discov-
ery mechanisms.
(b) Model B (“who is there?” / “are you there?”): In
this model, the UE that needs to discover informa-
Fig. 10  D2D direct discovery
Model A for in-coverage sce-
nario (from [40])
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SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
tion broadcasts a message containing the infor-
mation it needs. Another UE that receives the
message can respond to the discoverer with the
relevant information as shown in Fig. 11.
Generally, the transmission and reception of the discovery
packets in D2D communication are very complex. This is
because of the size of the discovery packets. If the size of the
discovery packet is small, the UEs may be able to transmit
certain sequences of discovery information. Even though
for the smaller packets, the information regarding the UEs
may be limited but the complexity is relatively low. If the
discovery information packet is too large, sending periodical
beacons may be too difficult for the UEs. Hence, the trans-
mission of larger discovery packets is difficult task.
Direct Communication
3GPP standards describe the procedures for direct communi-
cation for in-coverage, partial-coverage, and out-of-coverage
scenarios. The control signals for direct communication are
exchanged using PSCCH, while the data are transmitted using
PSSCH via the PC5 interface at layer 1. The communication
can be 1:1 (i.e, unicast) or 1:many (i.e., broadcast and group-
cast). In 1:many communication, groupcast is supported with
a destination Group ID at layer 2. Further, 3GPP Release 13
supports UE-to-network relay at layer 3; this two-hop com-
munication helps extend the coverage of a network. UE pro-
visioning for direct communication requires several network
SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37 Page 11 of 18 37

Fig. 11  D2D direct discovery

Model B for in-coverage sce-
nario (from [40])

Critical Discussion

The technical specifications provided in 3GPP standards are

very well organized and globally approved. After a deep
survey on recent standardization efforts, we find that they are
many critical issues and scope of improvement in D2D com-
munication. We also highlight the benefits that D2D com-
munication can afford in the upcoming 5G cellular network.

Important Issues in D2D Communication

In this subsection, we discuss various challenges in D2D

communication [6, 50].

1. User mobility: To handle the mobility in D2D com-

Fig. 12  1: many direct traffic in D2D Communication (from [12])
parameters like ProSe layer-2 Group ID, ProSe Group IP mul-
ticast address, security parameter for group communication,
whether the UE is authorized to perform direct communica-
tion when out-of-coverage, and the radio parameters to use
when the UE is out-of-coverage. The network performs the
provisioning when the UEs are in-coverage. To handle out-of-
coverage scenarios, values for these parameters may be stored
in the device or the USIM (Fig. 12).
munication, a lot of time has been invested in profi-
cient handoff (or handover) selection. Handoff can be
categorized into two types: (1) horizontal handoff and
(2) vertical Handoff. Horizontal handoff takes place
within the same type of network and is dependent on
the signal strength of the eNB. If the signal strength
goes below a given threshold value, horizontal hando-
ver takes place. Vertical handoff takes place when user
moves across networks, for example, from WLAN to
cellular connectivity to access the Internet. It can either
be either network initiated or user initiated [21]. Under
a dense heterogeneous network where mobility is very
high, vertical handover depends on the controlling and
signalling frequencies that a UE needs to operate. For
UEs to function using controlling and signalling fre-
quencies quickly deteriorates the signal to noise ratio

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(SNR) and so is the performance. Hence, selection of
appropriate handover criteria is still a question. The
standardization mechanism should focus on developing
appropriate handover criteria for D2D communication.
Generally in D2D communication, UE mobility pos-
sesses significant challenges. This is because constant
mobility increases the Doppler spread. It can also
affect the temporal correlation of shadowing as well
as the fast fading techniques used for communication.
Therefore, 3GPP standardization techniques should
focus on user mobility for efficient D2D communica-
tion where the energy consumption can be minimized
and the lifetime of devices can be enhanced.
2. D2D synchronization: In the in-coverage scenario, it is
sometimes difficult to achieve complete synchroniza-
tion. This is because there may be multiple D2D links
available and it is confusing to choose between uplink
time and downlink time for D2D transmission. Due to
different distances of various UEs from an eNB and the
availability of multiple eNBs, none of the uplink time
and downlink time guarantees a complete synchroni-
zation. Synchronization in out-of-coverage scenario is
even more difficult as it needs periodic transmission
of synchronization signals from UEs, which increases
the power consumption of the UEs. There are chances
of UEs in out-of-coverage not being synchronized; if a
UE that is being searched for by a discoverer UE is not
synchronized with the discoverer, i.e., the synchroniza-
tion information is not available before discovery, the
discovery is likely to fail.
3. D2D discovery signal: D2D discovery signal can be
sequence-based in which limited information is con-
veyed, or packet-based in which synchronization infor-
mation is not limited but the transmission scheme is
very complicated. In terms of the discovery mecha-
nism, device discovery is classified into two types:
EPC-level discovery and direct discovery. EPC-level
discovery is a centralized discovery mechanism where
the message flow is handled by the eNB. In direct dis-
covery which is a distributed approach, the message
passing scheme is handled by the devices directly and
there is no involvement of eNB [21]. In direct discov-
ery, a pilot signal is transmitted by the UEs to dis-
cover the nearby UEs in given proximity. For network-
assisted discovery, the transmission power of the pilot
signal depends on the range of the D2D users inside a
given cell [36]. However, continuous transmission of
discovery messages affects the performance of D2D
communication as it consumes power and may lead
to interference with other devices present in the same
cell. Standardization mechanisms should focus on
appropriate scheduling of pilot signals so that other
devices in the cell are not affected.
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4. Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) proto-
col: HARQ protocol is the combination of Automatic
Repeat Request (ARQ) and forward error correction. In
D2D communication, both direct and indirect HARQ
can be used [35]. In indirect HARQ, the D2D receiver
transmits the ACK to the eNB. The eNB relays the
same message to the D2D transmitter. This increases
the overhead of the network. In case of direct HARQ,
the D2D receiver transmits the ACK to the D2D trans-
mitter directly; however, the uplink and downlink
channels cannot be utilized. D2D standardization ini-
tiatives should focus on incorporating HARQ protocol
in D2D communication so that the robustness of D2D
communication is enhanced.
5. Resource allocation: Generally efficient resource allo-
cation schemes and the reuse of resources enhance
the scalability of D2D network. If resources can be
managed effectively, the power consumption can be
minimized, the throughput can be enhanced, and the
interference can be reduced. Both orthogonal and non-
orthogonal resource allocation schemes are easier to
manage in static conditions than in dynamic condi-
tions. Public safety communication typically uses
dedicated resources (spectrum), while commercial
D2D services share the spectrum with cellular users.
The problem of resource allocation gets more com-
plicated in a dense network where many base stations
are involved. Involvement of multiple number of base
stations makes it more difficult for D2D users to share
the underlay spectrum [21, 38]. Therefore, upcom-
ing releases in 3GPP standardization should focus on
developing a versatile resource allocation strategy that
can be adopted under various network conditions.
6. Mode selection: D2D-capable users in a cellular net-
work can communicate using D2D mode or infrastruc-
ture mode (i.e., conventional cellular communication
using eNB) [16]. In D2D mode, cellular and D2D users
can share resources (reuse mode) or can have their own
dedicated resources (dedicated mode). Mode selec-
tion is a mechanism by which D2D users choose an
appropriate mode of communication. Mode selection
criteria for D2D communication are not clearly defined
in 3GPP standards. Mode selection possesses several
challenges. We detail two of them below:
(a) High overhead: The selection of the mode of com-
munication depends upon various factors like
channel quality, distance, and channel state infor-
mation. Every time the channel quality alters, the
mode of communication could potentially change.
But frequent alteration of modes generates an
enormous amount of overhead in the network;
SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
therefore, mode switch is generally activated
infrequently [21, 38].
(b) Mode selection in dynamic conditions: Most of
the existing literature focuses on mode selection  
in a static networking environment. The selec-
tion of the mode of communication under highly
dynamic conditions is more complex and needs to
be adequately explored [38].
7. Interference management: In in-band communication,
cellular and D2D links can interfere with each other,
depending on the frequency sharing mechanisms [38].
We illustrate the situation in Fig. 13 where UE1 (D2D
transmitter) and UE2 (D2D receiver) are in close prox-
imity and intend to communicate using a direct link.
For communication, the devices can reuse the licensed
spectrum allocated for the cellular user. In this type
of scenario, the connection establishment between
UE1 and UE2 will be controlled by the eNB. Higher
spectral efficiency and lower power consumption are
some of the benefits in a scenario. We describe the
interference scenario depicted in Fig. 13. Interference
is caused by D2D users to cellular user and vice versa.
When UE1 transmits data to UE2, the eNB may also
broadcast data to the cellular UE. In such a condition,
two types of interference arise
• Case 1: There will be interference from UE1 to cel-
lular UE. It is also quite possible that the UE2 may
face interference due to eNB. This affects the overall
performance of the network. Both D2D users and
cellular user suffer due to interference. The transmis-
sion power of the UE1 is much lower as compared to
eNB; therefore, the interference from UE1 to cellular
UE will result in inconsequential loss in terms of
performance but UE2 will be significantly affected.
• Case 2: While sharing the downlink resources, the
eNB acts as an aggressor. As eNB is more powerful
Fig. 13  Interference between D2D and cellular transmissions
Page 13 of 18 37
compared to the D2D users, there is a strong interfer-
ence to D2D users.
Similarly, if multiple D2D users under a given cell
share the same resources, there will be co-channel
interference from the transmitting D2D user of one pair
to the receiving D2D user of another pair [33]. There-
fore, interference between cellular users and D2D users
holds a great risk. In in-band D2D communications,
there are several approaches proposed by the research-
ers to avoid the interference. We have enlisted some of
them below.
(a) Power control: At higher transmission power, the
D2D users can cause significant interference to
cellular communication. If there is interference
from D2D UEs to cellular UEs, the power of the
D2D UEs can be reduced to mitigate the interfer-
ence [33, 54]. The power control mechanisms can
be used in both static and dynamic manner. In the
static case, the power and signal-to-interference-
plus-noise-ratio (SINR) stay fixed for D2D users,
whereas in dynamic state, open loop power con-
trol and closed-loop power control schemes are
provided. In the initial scheme, the D2D users can
fine-tune the power based on some of the prede-
fined system parameters as mentioned in [53]. In
closed loop power control scheme, the D2D users
can adjust their power in coordination with the
eNB. An in-depth study of power control schemes
provided in [38]. The power control scheme com-
bined with efficient mode selection technique
and resource allocation mechanisms can be more
effective in avoiding the interference in D2D ena-
bled cellular communications.
(b) Mode selection: Mode selection can play a vital
role in avoiding the interference from D2D UEs
to cellular UEs and vice versa. Although the D2D
users may be in close proximity, looking at the
level of interference, operation in the D2D mode
may not be the best idea. The mode selection
scheme allows the D2D users to choose the best
mode of communication under a cellular net-
work. The multiple D2D pairs operating under
the same cell using D2D mode of communication
use the same frequency resources. Hence, there is
an interference between the D2D users. To over-
come such a problem, the D2D users can evaluate
the D2D spectrum and fix an energy consump-
tion threshold. If the evaluated energy goes below
the threshold, the D2D users can communicate
using D2D mode, else they can go to the cellular
mode of communication [7]. Mode selection is
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an integral part of D2D communication. Various
approaches for selection of an appropriate mode
of communication, interference avoidance using
modes selection and recent advances of mode
selection in D2D communication are presented in
[16, 21, 38].
(c) Spectrum splitting: In a D2D enabled cellular
communication, spectrum splitting is one of the
simplest mechanisms to avoid interference. Divid-
ing the spectrum into two parts where one part is
dedicated to the D2D users and another part is
dedicated to cellular users can reduce the interfer-
ence among the cellular users and D2D users [46].
Spectrum splitting mechanism does not work well
when multiple D2D pairs communicate under the
same cell using the same resources.
  Apart from power control and mode selection
schemes, several other approaches like radio resource
allocation, implementation of multiple input multiple
output (MIMO) and enhanced antenna schemes, joint
mode selection and power allocation, and channel con-
trol are available to avoid interference in in-band D2D
communication. [16, 21, 33, 38]. In out-band com-
munication, D2D users operate using unlicensed spec-
trum. Here, the communication between the D2D users
can either be network assisted or autonomous. One of
the major benefits of out-band D2D communication is
that there is no interference between D2D users and
cellular users. However, WiFi and Bluetooth operate
in the same unlicensed spectrum. Simultaneous opera-
tion of multiple entities at the same frequency band
generates interference. Under LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-
U) spectrum, interference avoidance using clear chan-
nel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) has
been presented in [52]. The suggested mechanism says
that an unlicensed D2D UE before transmitting should
perform a carrier sensing mechanism. By doing this,
the unlicensed UE can identify the other users operat-
ing on the same channel. The UE measures the energy
level of the channel due to other unlicensed UEs. If the
energy level is lower than a threshold, the UE transmits
a channel occupancy time (COT), else it waits for a
random period of time after which it retries.
8. LTE-U or LTE Licence-Assisted Access (LAA):
Licensed spectrum and operation control provide
advanced services and good user experience in mobile
communications. However, D2D communication in
licensed band using the cellular UL/DL resources
cannot operate close to the eNB as the eNB transmits
with high power on the DL, and near the cell edge
where the UEs transmit with high power on the UL.
In contrast, if D2D communication uses LTE-U, it
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SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
can operate almost over the whole coverage area of
the eNB (except where other devices using same unli-
censed band are in operation). At the same time, it
can achieve an improved network-wide capacity [52].
3GPP Release 13 includes study item (SI) to study the
feasibility in LTE-A to apply and enable LAA applica-
tion in unlicensed spectrum, and work item (WI) that
specifies the LTE enhancements to be applied in unli-
censed spectrum [1, 13, 26].
9. MIMO: MIMO can help enhance the spectral efficiency
in LTE-A. Although MIMO with up to 8 antenna ports
is common, 3GPP Release 13 introduced Full Dimen-
sional MIMO (FD-MIMO) which utilizes up to 64
antenna ports at the transmitter side [22]. FD-MIMO
is hailed as an important enabling technology in the
evolution from 4G to 5G [28]. Implementation of large
antenna arrays at eNB can allow the D2D users and the
cellular users to transmit simultaneously at the same
time–frequency resources without interference [15].
10. Superposition coding: wireless systems have tradition-
ally used orthogonal multiple access techniques like
frequency division multiple access, time division mul-
tiple access, etc. In non-orthogonal multiple access,
UEs transmit using non-orthogonal resources. This
increases the spectral efficiency but there is a chance
of interference at the receiver. 3GPP Release 13 has
identified LTE enhancements to enable downlink mul-
tiuser superposition transmission [10], which uses the
concept of superposition coding. For example, if there
are two UEs, one at the cell center and the other at the
cell boundary, the downlink transmissions to both of
them can be scheduled using the same beam. However,
the transmit power allocated in the first case is lower
than that in the second case. One way to use superpo-
sition coding in D2D communication is to make the
D2D link act as an in-band relay to cellular link [47],
i.e., the D2D link shares the radio resources with a cel-
lular downlink. A D2D transmitter acting as an in-band
relay can transmit its own data linearly combined with
the data from the eNB for a remote cellular user who
is far away from the eNB. This technique can improve
both spectral efficiency and network coverage.
11. Security: Security in D2D communication is one of the
most important aspects that need a consistent focus.
In comparison to traditional cellular communication,
D2D communication is highly vulnerable to security
threats because D2D communication bypasses the core
network. It is prone to various security attacks like
eavesdropping, man-in-middle, and impersonation. In
network-assisted D2D communication, cellular opera-
tors can provide security to the D2D users. But for
D2D users outside the coverage area, it is difficult to
provide desired security measures. In such scenarios,
SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
relay-assisted D2D communication can be used and
the security signals can be relayed from the eNB to
the D2D users. However, the relayed signals might be
vulnerable to security attacks. In 3GPP standardiza-
tion, the discussion related to security is very limited
although many researchers have advanced various
schemes to address the security needs of D2D com-
munication. In particular, D2D users must satisfy
the basic security requirements such as confidential-
ity, authorization, non-repudiation, availability, and
dependability [18, 55, 56]. We have enlisted some of
the proposed schemes below.
(a) Key management: Key management scheme is
one of the common cryptographic mechanisms
used in network security. To attain a secured data
communication between two D2D users in an
LTE-A cellular network, a data sharing protocol
is designed in [55]. The protocol uses both public
key cryptography and symmetric encryption. Uti-
lization of public key cryptography ensured UE
authentication, data authority and integrity while
using symmetric key encryption guaranteed data
confidentiality. The man-in-middle attack is a
common security threat in case of out-of-coverage
D2D communication. In such situations, efficient
key management schemes can be very helpful
for secured communication. A secret key can be
shared between two D2D users and authentication
can be attained by verbal or visual comparison of
the secret key [48].
(b) Physical layer security: To ensure a secured com-
munication between D2D users, it is very impor-
tant to secure the physical layer of D2D commu-
nication. The physical layer deals with coding and
modulation, antennas, and characteristics of wire-
less channels [17].The wireless channel proper-
ties can be known from channel state information
(CSI). A secret key generation mechanism using
CSI has been proposed in [2]. To set up the shared
secret schemes in between two D2D users in the
physical layer, a cooperative key generation mech-
anism has been presented in [27]. By securing the
physical layer, the confidentiality and integrity of
D2D communication can be enhanced.
(c) Secured routing: To provide security measures to
out-of-coverage D2D users, relay-assisted D2D
communication can be used. As relay assisted
D2D communication is more prone to security
threats, it is important to choose a secure routing
mechanism between the source and the destina-
tion. The secure message delivery protocol pre-
sented in [42] can detect the malicious messages
Page 15 of 18 37
in each route. The protocol also provides support
for non-repudiation and user authentication. For
a secured unlicensed D2D communication in 5G
communication, a combined operation of routing
control and group key management is presented
in [23]. The proposed approach uses the home IP
address of the ad hoc nodes to manage the group
key and performs authentication using the public
key infrastructure of cellular networks.
  Most of the D2D security-related proposals in the
literature deal with specific security issues and are
not integrated into a single protocol. Especially for
out-of-coverage scenario, most of the algorithms pro-
posed are quite equivalent to the security algorithms
for MANETs and wireless sensor networks [17]. Pri-
vacy preservation and appropriate security measures
for multi-hop D2D communication still need proper
investigation and analysis. As D2D communication is
likely to be an integral part of 5G cellular networks, it
is important to design appropriate security protocols
for D2D users [16, 39, 59].
D2D Communication in 5G Networks
Since 3GPP Release 12, 3GPP is publishing a release
roughly once a year. As far as 5G mobile systems are con-
cerned, 3GPP is working according to the timeline of Inter-
national Telecommunication Union—Radio Communication
(ITU-R) to complete the standardization process. Currently,
3GPP is focusing on the Radio Access Network (RAN) and
the core aspects of 5G. The standardization phase of 5G is
divided into two parts. The first part focuses on the deploy-
ment requirements and second part focuses on enhancing the
capabilities of 5G wireless communication systems. After
significant efforts, the first complete set of 5G standards
was published in 3GPP Release 15 in the year 2018. It cov-
ers the 5G New Radio (NR) system. 3GPP’s focus has now
shifted to the first stage of Release 16 because Release 15
is mature and near closure. Release 17 work will proceed
mainly through the years 2020 and 2021. Some important
areas of interaction between 5G and D2D communication
are the following.
1. mmWave communications: In upcoming 5G cellular
networks, mmWave communications is a promising
and one of the most emerging technologies. It can oper-
ate between 30 GHz and 300 GHz frequency band and
thereby offer higher data rate to 5G enabled mobile
devices. One of the major demerits of mmWave com-
munications is its shorter wavelength. Due to the shorter
wavelength, the difficulty in penetrating the nearby
obstacle increases. In such a scenario, however, relay-
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assisted D2D communication can be very helpful. Estab-
lishment of a D2D relay between two mobile devices
and between mobile devices and a mmWave enabled
base station can be done to extend the overall coverage
area even if these devices do not have a clear connecting
line of sight (LOS) [49]. If D2D communication can be
integrated properly with mmWave communication, the
overall network capacity can be enhanced.
2. D2D communication in social networks: The volume of
mobile data will be way higher in 5G communication
as of now. The majority of data will be carried on by
social networks. Analysis of the social ties, users’ simi-
larities and their interest can be helpful in identifying
their geographical locations [5]. D2D communication
together with the social network can ensure a trusted
connection setup [57]. Data dissemination which is one
of the important features of D2D communication can
be used in social networks for effective content sharing
between the users with similar interest. This can weigh
down the load of the BS and can increase the spectral
efficiency as well [57]. The combination of D2D net-
works and social networks can be a great boon for the
proximity services in 5G cellular communication [3].
For that purpose, D2D discovery mechanisms could be
designed exploit social networks at the application layer.
3. D2D communication in ultra-dense networks: Ultra-den-
sification of nodes is expected in 5G cellular networks.
Hence, it is considered as one of the major paradigms of
5G communication. In an ultra-dense network, a large
number of active small cells will be deployed to increase
communication efficiency. To have convenient traffic
offloading, D2D communication can be integrated with
small cells to reduce the load on the eNB [49].
Conclusion
D2D communication is going to play a major role in the
upcoming 5G cellular network. In this article, we have pre-
sented a brief overview on the standardization of D2D com-
munication. The standardization is based on 3GPP Release
12 and subsequent releases. We have discussed in detail
the architecture, discovery procedure, synchronization, and
direct communication technique of D2D communication.
We have also highlighted some critical issues in D2D com-
munication. It is expected that D2D communication will
play a pivotal role in both public safety and various com-
mercial use cases in future cellular networks.
Funding This study is partially funded by the Ph.D. scholarship offered
by KIIT Deemed University to the first author.
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SN Computer Science (2020) 1:37
Compliance with Ethical Standards
Conflict of Interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
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