Fronthaul-Constrained Cloud Radio Access Networks: Insights and Challenges

As a promising paradigm for fifth generation (5G) wireless communication systems, cloud radio access networks (C-RANs) have been shown to reduce both capital and operating expenditures, as well as to provide high spectral efficiency (SE) and energy efficiency (EE). The fronthaul in such networks, defined as the transmission link between a baseband unit (BBU) and a remote radio head (RRH), requires high capacity, but is often constrained. This article comprehensively surveys recent advances in fronthaul-constrained C-RANs, including system architectures and key techniques. In particular, key techniques for alleviating the impact of constrained fronthaul on SE/EE and quality of service for users, including compression and quantization, large-scale coordinated processing and clustering, and resource allocation optimization, are discussed. Open issues in terms of software-defined networking, network function virtualization, and partial centralization are also identified.Comment: 5 Figures, accepted by IEEE Wireless Communications. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1407.3855 by other author

Downlink Training in Cell-Free Massive MIMO: A Blessing in Disguise

Cell-free Massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) refers to a distributed Massive MIMO system where all the access points (APs) cooperate to coherently serve all the user equipments (UEs), suppress inter-cell interference and mitigate the multiuser interference. Recent works demonstrated that, unlike co-located Massive MIMO, the \textit{channel hardening} is, in general, less pronounced in cell-free Massive MIMO, thus there is much to benefit from estimating the downlink channel. In this study, we investigate the gain introduced by the downlink beamforming training, extending the previously proposed analysis to non-orthogonal uplink and downlink pilots. Assuming single-antenna APs, conjugate beamforming and independent Rayleigh fading channel, we derive a closed-form expression for the per-user achievable downlink rate that addresses channel estimation errors and pilot contamination both at the AP and UE side. The performance evaluation includes max-min fairness power control, greedy pilot assignment methods, and a comparison between achievable rates obtained from different capacity-bounding techniques. Numerical results show that downlink beamforming training, although increases pilot overhead and introduces additional pilot contamination, improves significantly the achievable downlink rate. Even for large number of APs, it is not fully efficient for the UE relying on the statistical channel state information for data decoding.Comment: Published in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications on August 14, 2019. {\copyright} 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other use

Self-organised multi-objective network clustering for coordinated communications in future wireless networks

The fifth generation (5G) cellular system is being developed with a vision of 1000 times more capacity than the fourth generation (4G) systems to cope with ever increasing mobile data traffic. Interference mitigation plays an important role in improving the much needed overall capacity especially in highly interference-limited dense deployment scenarios envisioned for 5G. Coordinated multi-point (CoMP) is identified as a promising interference mitigation technique where multiple base stations (BS) can cooperate for joint transmission/reception by exchanging user/control data and perform joint signal processing to mitigate inter-cell interference and even exploit it as a useful signal. CoMP is already a key feature of long term evolution-advanced (LTE-A) and envisioned as an essential function for 5G. However, CoMP cannot be realized for the whole network due to its computational complexity, synchronization requirement between coordinating BSs and high backhaul capacity requirement. BSs need to be clustered into smaller groups and CoMP can be activated within these smaller clusters. This PhD thesis aims to investigate optimum dynamic CoMP clustering solutions in 5G and beyond wireless networks with massive small cell (SC) deployment. Truly self-organised CoMP clustering algorithms are investigated, aiming to improve much needed spectral efficiency and other network objectives especially load balancing in future wireless networks. Low complexity, scalable, stable and efficient CoMP clustering algorithms are designed to jointly optimize spectral efficiency, load balancing and limited backhaul availability. Firstly, we provide a self organizing, load aware, user-centric CoMP clustering algorithm in a control and data plane separation architecture (CDSA) proposed for 5G to maximize spectral efficiency and improve load balancing. We introduce a novel re-clustering algorithm for user equipment (UE) served by highly loaded cells and show that unsatisfied UEs due to high load can be significantly reduced with minimal impact on spectral efficiency. Clustering with load balancing algorithm exploits the capacity gain from increase in cluster size and also the traffic shift from highly loaded cells to lightly loaded neighbours. Secondly, we develop a novel, low complexity, stable, network-centric clustering model to jointly optimize load balancing and spectral efficiency objectives and tackle the complexity and scalability issues of user-centric clustering. We show that our clustering model provide high spectral efficiency in low-load scenario and better load distribution in high-load scenario resulting in lower number of unsatisfied users while keeping spectral efficiency at comparably high levels. Unsatisfied UEs due to high load are reduced by $68.5\%$ with our algorithm when compared to greedy clustering model. In this context, the unique contribution of this work that it is the first attempt to fill the gap in literature for multi-objective, network-centric CoMP clustering, jointly optimizing load balancing and spectral efficiency. Thirdly, we design a novel multi-objective CoMP clustering algorithm to include backhaul-load awareness and tackle one of the biggest challenges for the realization of CoMP in future networks i.e. the demand for high backhaul bandwidth and very low latency. We fill the gap in literature as the first attempt to design a clustering algorithm to jointly optimize backhaul/radio access load and spectral efficiency and analyze the trade-off between them. We employ 2 novel coalitional game theoretic clustering methods, 1-a novel merge/split/transfer coalitional game theoretic clustering algorithm to form backhaul and load aware BS clusters where spectral efficiency is still kept at high level, 2-a novel user transfer game model to move users between clusters to improve load balancing further. Stability and complexity analysis is provided and simulation results are presented to show the performance of the proposed method under different backhaul availability scenarios. We show that average system throughout is increased by 49.9% with our backhaul-load aware model in high load scenario when compared to a greedy model. Finally, we provide an operator's perspective on deployment of CoMP. Firstly, we present the main motivation and benefits of CoMP from an operator's viewpoint. Next, we present operational requirements for CoMP implementation and discuss practical considerations and challenges of such deployment. Possible solutions for these experienced challenges are reviewed. We then present initial results from a UL CoMP trial and discuss changes in key network performance indicators (KPI) during the trial. Additionally, we propose further improvements to the trialed CoMP scheme for better potential gains and give our perspective on how CoMP will fit into the future wireless networks

Soft Handover Procedures in mmWave Cell-Free Massive MIMO Networks

This paper considers a mmWave cell-free massive MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output) network composed of a large number of geographically distributed access points (APs) simultaneously serving multiple user equipments (UEs) via coherent joint transmission. We address UE mobility in the downlink (DL) with imperfect channel state information (CSI) and pilot training. Aiming at extending traditional handover concepts to the challenging AP-UE association strategies of cell-free networks, distributed algorithms for joint pilot assignment and cluster formation are proposed in a dynamic environment considering UE mobility. The algorithms provide a systematic procedure for initial access and update of the serving APs and assigned pilot sequence to each UE. The principal goal is to limit the necessary number of AP and pilot changes, while limiting computational complexity. We evaluate the performance, in terms of spectral efficiency (SE), with maximum ratio and regularized zero-forcing precoding. Results show that our proposed distributed algorithms effectively identify the essential AP-UE association refinements with orders-of-magnitude lower computational time compared to the state-of-the-art. It also provides a significantly lower average number of pilot changes compared to an ultra-dense network (UDN). Moreover, we develop an improved pilot assignment procedure that facilitates massive access to the network in highly loaded scenarios.Comment: 14 pages, Accepted in IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communication

Towards versatile access networks (Chapter 3)

Compared to its previous generations, the 5th generation (5G) cellular network features an additional type of densification, i.e., a large number of active antennas per access point (AP) can be deployed. This technique is known as massive multipleinput multiple-output (mMIMO) [1]. Meanwhile, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) evolution, e.g., in channel state information (CSI) enhancement, and also on the study of a larger number of orthogonal demodulation reference signal (DMRS) ports for MU-MIMO, was one of the Release 18 of 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP Rel-18) work item. This release (3GPP Rel-18) package approval, in the fourth quarter of 2021, marked the start of the 5G Advanced evolution in 3GPP. The other items in 3GPP Rel-18 are to study and add functionality in the areas of network energy savings, coverage, mobility support, multicast broadcast services, and positionin

Mobile Cell-Free Massive MIMO: Challenges, Solutions, and Future Directions

Cell-free (CF) massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, which exploit many geographically distributed access points to coherently serve user equipments via spatial multiplexing on the same time-frequency resource, has become a vital component of the next-generation mobile communication networks. Theoretically, CF massive MIMO systems have many advantages, such as large capacity, great coverage, and high reliability, but several obstacles must be overcome. In this article, we study the paradigm of CF massive MIMO-aided mobile communications, including the main application scenarios and associated deployment architectures. Furthermore, we thoroughly investigate the challenges of CF massive MIMO-aided mobile communications. We then exploit a novel predictor antenna, hierarchical cancellation, rate-splitting and dynamic clustering system for CF massive MIMO. Finally, several important research directions regarding CF massive MIMO for mobile communications are presented to facilitate further investigation.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, accepted by IEEE Wireless Communications Magazin

RIS-Aided Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems for 6G: Fundamentals, System Design, and Applications

An introduction of intelligent interconnectivity for people and things has posed higher demands and more challenges for sixth-generation (6G) networks, such as high spectral efficiency and energy efficiency, ultra-low latency, and ultra-high reliability. Cell-free (CF) massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) and reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), also called intelligent reflecting surface (IRS), are two promising technologies for coping with these unprecedented demands. Given their distinct capabilities, integrating the two technologies to further enhance wireless network performances has received great research and development attention. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey of research on RIS-aided CF mMIMO wireless communication systems. We first introduce system models focusing on system architecture and application scenarios, channel models, and communication protocols. Subsequently, we summarize the relevant studies on system operation and resource allocation, providing in-depth analyses and discussions. Following this, we present practical challenges faced by RIS-aided CF mMIMO systems, particularly those introduced by RIS, such as hardware impairments and electromagnetic interference. We summarize corresponding analyses and solutions to further facilitate the implementation of RIS-aided CF mMIMO systems. Furthermore, we explore an interplay between RIS-aided CF mMIMO and other emerging 6G technologies, such as next-generation multiple-access (NGMA), simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT), and millimeter wave (mmWave). Finally, we outline several research directions for future RIS-aided CF mMIMO systems.Comment: 30 pages, 15 figure