This paper introduces a cross-layer framework for scheduling and resource allocation suitable for base station (BS)-cooperative wideband wireless cellular systems supporting heterogeneous traffic. To this end, advanced cluster-based multiple-antenna techniques such as network MIMO (N-MIMO) or large-scale MIMO (LS-MIMO) are considered for the physical layer of the system. The framework is general enough to be able to cater for different forms of power allocation, rate allocation or scheduling policy while providing critical performance metrics such as throughput or fairness measures while being able to incorporate per-cluster as well as per-BS power constraints. Remarkably, different greedy scheduling algorithms are proposed for both N-MIMO and LS-MIMO that are able to significantly exploit the multiuser and frequency diversity of the system while remaining computationally feasible. A particularly interesting application of the proposed framework, explored in detail in this paper, is a thorough and realistic comparison of the performance of N-MIMO and LS-MIMO that reveals the strengths and weaknesses of each strategy in terms of throughput and fairness.
['Felip Riera-Palou', 'Guillem Femenias']
On scheduling and resource allocation in cluster-based cooperative MIMO-OFDMA cellular networks