Cloud Radio-Access Network Architecture for Wireless Cellular Systems

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The proposed research project focuses on a novel wireless cellular network architecture, called Cloud Radio-Access Network (C-RAN), in which signal processing traditionally performed locally at each base-station is uploaded to a centralized computing environment using the emerging cloud computing technology. An important advantage of the C-RAN architecture is that it provides an enabling platform on which the base-stations can cooperate for interference management and mitigation purposes. By taking advantage of the high-speed connections between the base-stations and the cloud servers, the C-RAN architecture opens up a new frontier of wireless research for the joint optimization of the air-interface and processing across the multiple base-stations using powerful centralized cloud computing capabilities. This research project aims to investigate the fundamental capacity limits and to design novel signal processing techniques for the C-RAN architecture. Specifically, we will investigate cooperative base-station processing strategies enabled by C-RAN, and optimize network performance in light of practical constraints such as limited backhaul capacity, limited cooperation size, and limited channel estimation capabilities. Practical tradeoffs in air-interface performance, backhaul capacity, computational requirement, and high precision timing requirement are all key aspects for optimizing C-RAN. The C-RAN architecture represents an emerging paradigm shift that will bring significant benefit to future wireless cellular services. The proposed research will aim to address the important theoretical and practical issues toward the realization of C-RAN.