A coordinated uplink scheduling and power control algorithm for multicell networks

This paper proposes a coordinated joint uplink user scheduling and power control algorithm across multiple cells in a wireless cellular network. The uplink scheduling and power control problem is more challenging than the downlink, because the uplink interference pattern strongly depends on the schedule decisions of the neighboring cells. This paper considers a weighted sum rate maximization objective in the uplink and formulates the joint scheduling and power control problem as a non-convex mixed-integer problem. The main contribution of the paper is a novel problem reformulation based on sum-of-ratios programming and a distributed iterative algorithm based on a subsequent quadratic transformation. The algorithm optimizes the transmit power and scheduling of each iteration jointly in closed form. The proposed algorithm has provable convergence guarantee, and is shown to significantly outperform existing approaches.