Service-aware user-centric clustering and scheduling for cloud-RAN with coordinated multi-point transmission

In this paper, we investigate the dynamics of Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) in a Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) deployment. Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) and Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) are two of different solutions currently being evaluated for the next generation of mobile networks (5G). In this context, our focus is on the clustering of transmitters and time-frequency resource scheduling, in systems utilizing CoMP in a C-RAN deployment. We propose a service-aware user-centric scheme for the downlink. This approach relies on adaptively creating overlapping clusters on a per-user basis and jointly scheduling the users in their preferred CoMP set. Moreover, resource scheduling is achieved with both time and frequency domain considerations, but with a fixed value in the power domain. We show that with the proposed scheme, throughput and delay improvements can be achieved for both center and edge users in a fair fashion.