Full-Duplex Cloud-RAN with Uplink/Downlink Remote Radio Head Association

Abstract: This paper considers a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) where spatially distributed remote radio heads (RRHs) communicate with a full-duplex user. In order to reflect a realistic scenario, the uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) RRHs are assumed to be equipped with multiple antennas and distributed according to a Poisson point process. We consider all participate and nearest RRH association schemes with distributed beamforming in the form of maximum ratio combining/maximal ratio transmission (MRC/MRT) and zero-forcing/MRT(ZF/MRT) processing. We derive analytical expressions useful to compare the average sum rate among association schemes as a function of the number of RRHs antennas and density of the UL and DL RRHs. Numerical results show that significant performance improvements can be achieved by using the full-duplex mode as compared to the half-duplex mode, while the choice of the beamforming design as well as the RRH association scheme plays a critical role in determining the full-duplex gains.