Resource allocation for coordinated multipoint networks with wireless information and power transfer

This paper studies the resource allocation algorithm design for multiuser coordinated multipoint (CoMP) networks with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT). In particular, remote radio heads (RRHs) are connected to a central processor (CP) via capacity-limited backhaul links to facilitate CoMP joint transmission. Besides, the CP transfers energy to the RRHs for more efficient network operation. The considered resource allocation algorithm design is formulated as a non-convex optimization problem with a minimum required signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) constraint at multiple information receivers and a minimum required power transfer constraint at the energy harvesting receivers. By optimizing the transmit beamforming vectors at the CP and energy sharing between the CP and the RRHs, we aim at jointly minimizing the total network transmit power and the maximum capacity consumption per backhaul link. The resulting non-convex optimization problem is NP-hard. In light of the intractability of the problem, we reformulate it by replacing the non-convex objective function with its convex hull, which enables the derivation of an efficient iterative resource allocation algorithm. In each iteration, a non-convex optimization problem is solved by semi-definite programming (SDP) relaxation and the proposed iterative algorithm converges to a local optimal solution of the original problem. Simulation results illustrate that our proposed algorithm achieves a close-to-optimal performance and provides a significant reduction in backhaul capacity consumption compared to full cooperation. Besides, the considered CoMP network is shown to provide superior system performance as far as power consumption is concerned compared to a traditional system with multiple antennas co-located.