Analysis of Device-to-Device Communications in Uplink Cellular Networks with Lognormal Fading

In this paper, using the stochastic geometry theory, we present a framework for analyzing the performance of device-to-device (D2D) communications underlaid uplink (UL) cellular networks. In our analysis, we consider a D2D mode selection criterion based on an energy threshold for each user equipment (UE). Specifically, a UE will operate in a cellular mode, if its received signal strength from the strongest base station (BS) is large than a threshold β. Otherwise, it will operate in a D2D mode. Furthermore, we consider a generalized lognormal shadowing in our analysis. The coverage probability and the area spectral efficiency (ASE) are derived for both the cellular network and the D2D one. Through our theoretical and numerical analyses, we quantify the performance gains brought by D2D communications and provide guidelines of selecting the parameters for network operations.