The DoF of Network MIMO with Backhaul Delays

We consider the problem of downlink precoding for Network (multi-cell) MIMO networks where Transmitters (TXs) are provided with imperfect Channel State Information (CSI). Specifically, each TX receives a delayed channel estimate with the delay being specific to each channel component. This model is particularly adapted to the scenarios where a user feeds back its CSI to its serving base only as it is envisioned in future LTE networks. We analyze the impact of the delay during the backhaul-based CSI exchange on the rate performance achieved by Network MIMO. We highlight how delay can dramatically degrade system performance if existing precoding methods are to be used. We propose an alternative robust beamforming strategy which achieves the maximal performance, in DoF sense. We verify by simulations that the theoretical DoF improvement translates into a performance increase at finite Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) as well

Project Final Report – FREEDOM ICT-248891

This document is the final publishable summary report of the objective and work carried out within the European Project FREEDOM, ICT-248891.This document is the final publishable summary report of the objective and work carried out within the European Project FREEDOM, ICT-248891.Preprin

Cyclic Interference Alignment and Cancellation in 3-User X-Networks with Minimal Backhaul

We consider the problem of Cyclic Interference Alignment (IA) on the 3-user X-network and show that it is infeasible to exactly achieve the upper bound of $\frac{K^2}{2K-1}=\frac{9}{5}$ degrees of freedom for the lower bound of n=5 signalling dimensions and K=3 user-pairs. This infeasibility goes beyond the problem of common eigenvectors in invariant subspaces within spatial IA. In order to gain non-asymptotic feasibility with minimal intervention, we first investigate an alignment strategy that enables IA by feedforwarding a subset of messages with minimal rate. In a second step, we replace the proposed feedforward strategy by an analogous Cyclic Interference Alignment and Cancellation scheme with a backhaul network on the receiver side and also by a dual Cyclic Interference Neutralization scheme with a backhaul network on the transmitter side.Comment: 8 pages, short version submitted to ISIT 201

Performance analysis and optimal cooperative cluster size for randomly distributed small cells under cloud RAN

One major advantage of cloud/centralized radio access network is the ease of implementation of multi-cell coordination mechanisms to improve the system spectrum efficiency (SE). Theoretically, large number of cooperative cells lead to a higher SE; however, it may also cause significant delay due to extra channel state information feedback and joint processing computational needs at the cloud data center, which is likely to result in performance degradation. In order to investigate the delay impact on the throughput gains, we divide the network into multiple clusters of cooperative small cells and formulate a throughput optimization problem. We model various delay factors and the sum-rate of the network as a function of cluster size, treating it as the main optimization variable. For our analysis, we consider both base stations' as well as users' geometric locations as random variables for both linear and planar network deployments. The output signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio and ergodic sum-rate are derived based on the homogenous Poisson point processing model. The sum-rate optimization problem in terms of the cluster size is formulated and solved. Simulation results show that the proposed analytical framework can be utilized to accurately evaluate the performance of practical cloud-based small cell networks employing clustered cooperation

Fundamental Limits of Cooperation

Cooperation is viewed as a key ingredient for interference management in wireless systems. This paper shows that cooperation has fundamental limitations. The main result is that even full cooperation between transmitters cannot in general change an interference-limited network to a noise-limited network. The key idea is that there exists a spectral efficiency upper bound that is independent of the transmit power. First, a spectral efficiency upper bound is established for systems that rely on pilot-assisted channel estimation; in this framework, cooperation is shown to be possible only within clusters of limited size, which are subject to out-of-cluster interference whose power scales with that of the in-cluster signals. Second, an upper bound is also shown to exist when cooperation is through noncoherent communication; thus, the spectral efficiency limitation is not a by-product of the reliance on pilot-assisted channel estimation. Consequently, existing literature that routinely assumes the high-power spectral efficiency scales with the log of the transmit power provides only a partial characterization. The complete characterization proposed in this paper subdivides the high-power regime into a degrees-of-freedom regime, where the scaling with the log of the transmit power holds approximately, and a saturation regime, where the spectral efficiency hits a ceiling that is independent of the power. Using a cellular system as an example, it is demonstrated that the spectral efficiency saturates at power levels of operational relevance.Comment: 27 page

On the Benefits of Edge Caching for MIMO Interference Alignment

In this contribution, we jointly investigate the benefits of caching and interference alignment (IA) in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) interference channel under limited backhaul capacity. In particular, total average transmission rate is derived as a function of various system parameters such as backhaul link capacity, cache size, number of active transmitter-receiver pairs as well as the quantization bits for channel state information (CSI). Given the fact that base stations are equipped both with caching and IA capabilities and have knowledge of content popularity profile, we then characterize an operational regime where the caching is beneficial. Subsequently, we find the optimal number of transmitter-receiver pairs that maximizes the total average transmission rate. When the popularity profile of requested contents falls into the operational regime, it turns out that caching substantially improves the throughput as it mitigates the backhaul usage and allows IA methods to take benefit of such limited backhaul.Comment: 20 pages, 5 figures. A shorter version is to be presented at 16th IEEE International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC'2015), Stockholm, Swede

Multi-cell cooperation for future wireless systems

Portuguese CADWIN - PTDC/EEA TEL/099241/2008Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT