This paper presents an overview of the theory and currently known techniques for multi-cell MIMO (multiple input multiple output) cooperation in wireless networks. In dense networks where interference emerges as the key capacity-limiting factor, multi-cell cooperation can dramatically improve the system performance. Remarkably, such techniques literally exploit inter-cell interference by allowing the user data to be jointly processed by several interfering base stations, thus mimicking the benefits of a large virtual MIMO array. Multi-cell MIMO cooperation concepts are examined from different perspectives, including an examination of the fundamental information-theoretic limits, a review of the coding and signal processing algorithmic developments, and, going beyond that, consideration of very practical issues related to scalability and system-level integration. A few promising and quite fundamental research avenues are also suggested.

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Multi-Cell MIMO Cooperative Networks: A New Look at Interference

Multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) networks reveal the unique opportunities arising from a joint optimization of antenna combining techniques with resource allocation protocols. Furthermore, it brings robustness with respect to multipath richness, allowing for compact antenna spacing at the BS and, crucially, yielding the diversity and multiplexing gains without the need for multiple antenna user terminals. To realize these gains, however, the BS should be informed with the user's channel coefficients, which may limit practical application to TDD or low-mobility settings. To circumvent this problem and reduce feedback load, combining MU-MIMO with opportunistic scheduling seems a promising direction. The success for this type of scheduler is strongly traffic and QoS-dependent, however.

Shifting the MIMO Paradigm

In a conventional wireless cellular system, signal processing is performed on a per-cell basis; out-of-cell interference is treated as background noise. This paper considers the benefit of coordinating base-stations across multiple cells in a multi-antenna beamforming system, where multiple base-stations may jointly optimize their respective beamformers to improve the overall system performance. Consider a multicell downlink scenario where base-stations are equipped with multiple transmit antennas employing either linear beamforming or nonlinear dirty-paper coding, and where remote users are equipped with a single antenna each, but where multiple remote users may be active simultaneously in each cell. This paper focuses on the design criteria of minimizing either the total weighted transmitted power or the maximum per-antenna power across the base-stations subject to signal-to-interference-and-noise-ratio (SINR) constraints at the remote users. The main contribution of the paper is an efficient algorithm for finding the joint globally optimal beamformers across all base-stations. The proposed algorithm is based on a generalization of uplink-downlink duality to the multicell setting using the Lagrangian duality theory. An important feature is that it naturally leads to a distributed implementation in time-division duplex (TDD) systems. Simulation results suggest that coordinating the beamforming vectors alone already provide appreciable performance improvements as compared to the conventional per-cell optimized network.

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Coordinated beamforming for the multicell multi-antenna wireless system

The use of multiple antennas for wireless communication systems has gained overwhelming interest during the last decade - both in academia and industry. Multiple antennas can be utilized in order to accomplish a multiplexing gain, a diversity gain, or an antenna gain, thus enhancing the bit rate, the error performance, or the signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio of wireless systems, respectively. With an enormous amount of yearly publications, the field of multiple-antenna systems, often called multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, has evolved rapidly. To date, there are numerous papers on the performance limits of MIMO systems, and an abundance of transmitter and receiver concepts has been proposed. The objective of this literature survey is to provide non-specialists working in the general area of digital communications with a comprehensive overview of this exciting research field. To this end, the last ten years of research efforts are recapitulated, with focus on spatial multiplexing and spatial diversity techniques. In particular, topics such as transmitter and receiver structures, channel coding, MIMO techniques for frequency-selective fading channels, diversity reception and space-time coding techniques, differential and non-coherent schemes, beamforming techniques and closed-loop MIMO techniques, cooperative diversity schemes, as well as practical aspects influencing the performance of multiple-antenna systems are addressed. Although the list of references is certainly not intended to be exhaustive, the publications cited will serve as a good starting point for further reading.

Multiple-antenna techniques for wireless communications - a comprehensive literature survey

A method and apparatus for allocating subcarriers in an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) system is described. In one embodiment, the method comprises allocating at least one diversity cluster of subcarriers to a first subscriber and allocating at least one coherence cluster to a second subscriber.

Ofdma with adaptive subcarrier-cluster configuration and selective loading

A time-division-multiplexed fixed wireless loop system and methods therefor are disclosed. The system comprises a plurality of cells each having a base station and a plurality of terminals. The base station includes a steerable and adjustable multibeam antenna for communicating with each of the terminals, which have fixed antennas. A cell controller associated with each base station allocates communication time slots so as to minimize mutual interference between base station/terminal links sharing the same time slot. Slot assignment is based on regional, periodically updated interference measurements that are stored in data bases.

TDM-based fixed wireless loop system

We focus on maximum ratio combining at each base station and switching between base stations (BSs) as a simple macrodiversity technique. We obtain analytical results for pointwise outage probabilities for systems using one or a combination of both techniques to cover a desired area, assuming a certain correlation model for the set of path losses of the links connecting a terminal to the receiving BSs. Pointwise outage probabilities are averaged over the entire region of interest to get an estimate of the outage in the desired region. A comparison of micro- and macrodiversity schemes in terms of the outage gives insights as to the tradeoff between the two forms of diversity in the design of a cellular system.

Effect of microdiversity and correlated macrodiversity on outages in a cellular system

Without intercell coordination on a per communication request basis, channel assignment can be efficiently performed by developing for each cell, or a sector thereof when the cells are sectorized using directional antennas, a priority list of groups of channels, and selecting a channel to be assigned in response to a request for service from the highest priority group which has available channels at the time of the service request. The priority lists are developed based on various interference measurements that are made. The priority lists tend to remain the same for relatively long periods of time. However, periodically, the priority lists should be redetermined to insure that the best lists are being employed. For example the lists may need to be changed due to new construction or to seasonal vegetation changes which may affect the interference experienced in the system. Advantageously, system capacity under peak concentrated load conditions may increase. This advantage is further magnified under field conditions for which the cell shapes are not ideal.

Distributed channel assignment method

Opportunistic scheduling (OS) has been proposed as a technique to improve the downlink throughput of high speed packet systems. OS attempts to use the time varying propagation channels between the base station (BS) and the mobile stations (MSs) when they reach their peak rate capability and defer using channels when in bad state. It exploits the fact that the propagation channels between the BS and the MSs fade independently and the tolerance of many data services to delay and delay jitter. However, when the fading is slow in comparison with an acceptable packet delay, or weak, OS is not very useful. In such cases, opportunistic beamforming (OBF), a recently proposed scheme, may offer additional gains. OBF is a "natural" enhancement to OS. The enhancement amounts to replacing the BS antenna with multiple antennas and implementing an algorithm that generates a different radiation pattern every timeslot. In this paper we propose to tie the sequence of radiation patterns to the waiting times of the served MSs. We show through simulations that the scheme we propose leads to both, reduced probability of excessive packet delay and improved throughput. This can be achieved by additional processing of the feedback received from the MSs, with no additional signaling on the air interface.

Dan Avidor

Papers

TDM-based fixed wireless loop system

Effect of microdiversity and correlated macrodiversity on outages in a cellular system

Effect of microdiversity and correlated macrodiversity on outages in a cellular system

Distributed channel assignment method

Jointly opportunistic beamforming and scheduling (JOBS) for downlink packet access