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Hybrid Scheduling/Signal-Level Coordination in the Downlink of Multi-Cloud Radio-Access Networks
In the context of resource allocation in cloud-radio access networks, recent
studies assume either signal-level or scheduling-level coordination. This
paper, instead, considers a hybrid level of coordination for the scheduling
problem in the downlink of a multi-cloud radio-access network, as a means to
benefit from both scheduling policies. Consider a multi-cloud radio access
network, where each cloud is connected to several base-stations (BSs) via high
capacity links, and therefore allows joint signal processing between them.
Across the multiple clouds, however, only scheduling-level coordination is
permitted, as it requires a lower level of backhaul communication. The frame
structure of every BS is composed of various time/frequency blocks, called
power-zones (PZs), and kept at fixed power level. The paper addresses the
problem of maximizing a network-wide utility by associating users to clouds and
scheduling them to the PZs, under the practical constraints that each user is
scheduled, at most, to a single cloud, but possibly to many BSs within the
cloud, and can be served by one or more distinct PZs within the BSs' frame. The
paper solves the problem using graph theory techniques by constructing the
conflict graph. The scheduling problem is, then, shown to be equivalent to a
maximum-weight independent set problem in the constructed graph, in which each
vertex symbolizes an association of cloud, user, BS and PZ, with a weight
representing the utility of that association. Simulation results suggest that
the proposed hybrid scheduling strategy provides appreciable gain as compared
to the scheduling-level coordinated networks, with a negligible degradation to
signal-level coordination
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