Device-to-Device (D2D) communication was initially
proposed in cellular networks as a new paradigm to enhance
network performance. The emergence of new applications such as
content distribution and location-aware advertisement introduced
new use-cases for D2D communications in cellular networks. The
initial studies showed that D2D communication has advantages
such as increased spectral efficiency and reduced communication
delay. However, this communication mode introduces complications
in terms of interference control overhead and protocols
that are still open research problems. The feasibility of D2
D
communications in LTE-A is being studied by academia, industry,
and the standardization bodies. To date, there are more than 100
papers available on D2D communications in cellular network
s
and, there is no survey on this field. In this article, we provide a
taxonomy based on the D2D communicating spectrum and review
the available literature extensively under the proposed taxonomy.
Moreover, we provide new insights into the over-explored an
d
under-explored areas which lead us to identify open re