Collaborative radio resource allocation for the downlink of multi-cell multi-carrier systems

This study investigates collaboration among neighbouring base stations for the downlink of multi-carrier cellular networks, in the absence of a centralised control unit, which is a defining characteristic of future wireless networks. The authors propose a novel scheme for collaboration in resource allocation among a cluster of three neighbouring base stations. In this scheme, the results of an initial calculation are shared among neighbouring cells, then the scheduling decision is made locally and independently by each cell. This scheme does not require complex and iterative calculation. The information is exchanged only once during each scheduling epoch, which results in reduced overhead on the backhaul links. The scheme is implemented in a distributed manner. Simulation-based performance analysis demonstrates effectiveness of the proposed collaborative resource allocation scheme among the neighbouring base stations for multi-carrier systems, particularly for the users located near the cell edges.