17,660 research outputs found
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
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
Introducing mobile edge computing capabilities through distributed 5G Cloud Enabled Small Cells
Current trends in broadband mobile networks are addressed towards the placement of different capabilities at the edge of the mobile network in a centralised way. On one hand, the split of the eNB between baseband processing units and remote radio headers makes it possible to process some of the protocols in centralised premises, likely with virtualised resources. On the other hand, mobile edge computing makes use of processing and storage capabilities close to the air interface in order to deploy optimised services with minimum delay. The confluence of both trends is a hot topic in the definition of future 5G networks. The full centralisation of both technologies in cloud data centres imposes stringent requirements to the fronthaul connections in terms of throughput and latency. Therefore, all those cells with limited network access would not be able to offer these types of services. This paper proposes a solution for these cases, based on the placement of processing and storage capabilities close to the remote units, which is especially well suited for the deployment of clusters of small cells. The proposed cloud-enabled small cells include a highly efficient microserver with a limited set of virtualised resources offered to the cluster of small cells. As a result, a light data centre is created and commonly used for deploying centralised eNB and mobile edge computing functionalities. The paper covers the proposed architecture, with special focus on the integration of both aspects, and possible scenarios of application.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft
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