Reduced-Complexity User Scheduling Algorithms for Coordinated Heterogeneous MIMO Networks

In this paper, the downlink of a clustered coordinated multicell multiuser multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system is considered, and various low-complexity user scheduling algorithms to maximize the sum rate are proposed. The users' data signals are transmitted cooperatively via the base stations (BSs) of a cluster within the sectorized multicell heterogeneous cellular network. Exhaustive search as the optimal scheduling method is extremely complex, particularly for large numbers of users requesting service. We therefore propose suboptimal scheduling algorithms based on the lower complexity metaheuristic stochastic optimization techniques of simulated annealing (SA) and particle swarm (PS). Moreover, a hybrid algorithm combining the traits of PS and a greedy scheduler is also proposed. The performance and complexity of these algorithms are evaluated for a heterogeneous system model employing different precoding methods. Assessing the algorithms' performance via computer simulations, the effectiveness of the proposed schemes in terms of sum rate is demonstrated, yielding performance very close to that of the exhaustive search at much lower complexity. For each precoding method used in the employed system model, the best corresponding approach to scheduling from our proposed algorithms is determined.