Linear Precoding in Cooperative MIMO Cellular Networks with Limited Coordination Clusters

In a cooperative multiple-antenna downlink cellular network, maximization of a concave function of user rates is considered. A new linear precoding technique called soft interference nulling (SIN) is proposed, which performs at least as well as zero-forcing (ZF) beamforming. All base stations share channel state information, but each user's message is only routed to those that participate in the user's coordination cluster. SIN precoding is particularly useful when clusters of limited sizes overlap in the network, in which case traditional techniques such as dirty paper coding or ZF do not directly apply. The SIN precoder is computed by solving a sequence of convex optimization problems. SIN under partial network coordination can outperform ZF under full network coordination at moderate SNRs. Under overlapping coordination clusters, SIN precoding achieves considerably higher throughput compared to myopic ZF, especially when the clusters are large.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figure

Robust Linear Precoder Design for Multi-cell Downlink Transmission

Coordinated information processing by the base stations of multi-cell wireless networks enhances the overall quality of communication in the network. Such coordinations for optimizing any desired network-wide quality of service (QoS) necessitate the base stations to acquire and share some channel state information (CSI). With perfect knowledge of channel states, the base stations can adjust their transmissions for achieving a network-wise QoS optimality. In practice, however, the CSI can be obtained only imperfectly. As a result, due to the uncertainties involved, the network is not guaranteed to benefit from a globally optimal QoS. Nevertheless, if the channel estimation perturbations are confined within bounded regions, the QoS measure will also lie within a bounded region. Therefore, by exploiting the notion of robustness in the worst-case sense some worst-case QoS guarantees for the network can be asserted. We adopt a popular model for noisy channel estimates that assumes that estimation noise terms lie within known hyper-spheres. We aim to design linear transceivers that optimize a worst-case QoS measure in downlink transmissions. In particular, we focus on maximizing the worst-case weighted sum-rate of the network and the minimum worst-case rate of the network. For obtaining such transceiver designs, we offer several centralized (fully cooperative) and distributed (limited cooperation) algorithms which entail different levels of complexity and information exchange among the base stations.Comment: 38 Pages, 7 Figures, To appear in the IEEE Transactions on Signal Processin

Dynamic Radio Cooperation for Downlink Cloud-RANs with Computing Resource Sharing

A novel dynamic radio-cooperation strategy is proposed for Cloud Radio Access Networks (C-RANs) consisting of multiple Remote Radio Heads (RRHs) connected to a central Virtual Base Station (VBS) pool. In particular, the key capabilities of C-RANs in computing-resource sharing and real-time communication among the VBSs are leveraged to design a joint dynamic radio clustering and cooperative beamforming scheme that maximizes the downlink weighted sum-rate system utility (WSRSU). Due to the combinatorial nature of the radio clustering process and the non-convexity of the cooperative beamforming design, the underlying optimization problem is NP-hard, and is extremely difficult to solve for a large network. Our approach aims for a suboptimal solution by transforming the original problem into a Mixed-Integer Second-Order Cone Program (MI-SOCP), which can be solved efficiently using a proposed iterative algorithm. Numerical simulation results show that our low-complexity algorithm provides close-to-optimal performance in terms of WSRSU while significantly outperforming conventional radio clustering and beamforming schemes. Additionally, the results also demonstrate the significant improvement in computing-resource utilization of C-RANs over traditional RANs with distributed computing resources.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, accepted to IEEE MASS 201

Adaptive Bit Partitioning for Multicell Intercell Interference Nulling with Delayed Limited Feedback

Base station cooperation can exploit knowledge of the users' channel state information (CSI) at the transmitters to manage co-channel interference. Users have to feedback CSI of the desired and interfering channels using finite-bandwidth backhaul links. Existing codebook designs for single-cell limited feedback can be used for multicell cooperation by partitioning the available feedback resources between the multiple channels. In this paper, a new feedback-bit allocation strategy is proposed, as a function of the delays in the communication links and received signal strengths in the downlink. Channel temporal correlation is modeled as a function of delay using the Gauss-Markov model. Closed-form expressions for bit partitions are derived to allocate more bits to quantize the stronger channels with smaller delays and fewer bits to weaker channels with larger delays, assuming random vector quantization. Cellular network simulations are used to show that the proposed algorithm yields higher sum-rates than an equal-bit allocation technique.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, July 201

Cooperative Multi-Cell Block Diagonalization with Per-Base-Station Power Constraints

Block diagonalization (BD) is a practical linear precoding technique that eliminates the inter-user interference in downlink multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In this paper, we apply BD to the downlink transmission in a cooperative multi-cell MIMO system, where the signals from different base stations (BSs) to all the mobile stations (MSs) are jointly designed with the perfect knowledge of the downlink channels and transmit messages. Specifically, we study the optimal BD precoder design to maximize the weighted sum-rate of all the MSs subject to a set of per-BS power constraints. This design problem is formulated in an auxiliary MIMO broadcast channel (BC) with a set of transmit power constraints corresponding to those for individual BSs in the multi-cell system. By applying convex optimization techniques, this paper develops an efficient algorithm to solve this problem, and derives the closed-form expression for the optimal BD precoding matrix. It is revealed that the optimal BD precoding vectors for each MS in the per-BS power constraint case are in general non-orthogonal, which differs from the conventional orthogonal BD precoder design for the MIMO-BC under one single sum-power constraint. Moreover, for the special case of single-antenna BSs and MSs, the proposed solution reduces to the optimal zero-forcing beamforming (ZF-BF) precoder design for the weighted sum-rate maximization in the multiple-input single-output (MISO) BC with per-antenna power constraints. Suboptimal and low-complexity BD/ZF-BF precoding schemes are also presented, and their achievable rates are compared against those with the optimal schemes.Comment: accepted in JSAC, special issue on cooperative communications on cellular networks, June 201

Outage Efficient Strategies for Network MIMO with Partial CSIT

We consider a multi-cell MIMO downlink (network MIMO) where $B$ base-stations (BS) with $M$ antennas connected to a central station (CS) serve $K$ single-antenna user terminals (UT). Although many works have shown the potential benefits of network MIMO, the conclusion critically depends on the underlying assumptions such as channel state information at transmitters (CSIT) and backhaul links. In this paper, by focusing on the impact of partial CSIT, we propose an outage-efficient strategy. Namely, with side information of all UT's messages and local CSIT, each BS applies zero-forcing (ZF) beamforming in a distributed manner. For a small number of UTs ($K\leq M$), the ZF beamforming creates $K$ parallel MISO channels. Based on the statistical knowledge of these parallel channels, the CS performs a robust power allocation that simultaneously minimizes the outage probability of all UTs and achieves a diversity gain of $B(M-K+1)$ per UT. With a large number of UTs ($K \geq M$), we propose a so-called distributed diversity scheduling (DDS) scheme to select a subset of \Ks UTs with limited backhaul communication. It is proved that DDS achieves a diversity gain of B\frac{K}{\Ks}(M-\Ks+1), which scales optimally with the number of cooperative BSs $B$ as well as UTs. Numerical results confirm that even under realistic assumptions such as partial CSIT and limited backhaul communications, network MIMO can offer high data rates with a sufficient reliability to individual UTs.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, submitted to IEEE Trans. on Signal Processin