Small Cell Association with Networked Flying Platforms: Novel Algorithms and Performance Bounds

• Main Authors: Shah, Syed Awais Wahab, Khattab, Tamer, Shakir, Muhammad Zeeshan, Khafagy, Mohammad Galal, Hasna, Mazen Omar
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 04-02-2018
• Subjects: Computer Science - Networking and Internet Architecture
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.1802.01117

Fifth generation (5G) and beyond-5G (B5G) systems expect coverage and
capacity enhancements along with the consideration of limited power, cost and
spectrum. Densification of small cells (SCs) is a promising approach to cater
these demands of 5G and B5G systems. However, such an ultra dense network of
SCs requires provision of smart backhaul and fronthaul networks. In this paper,
we employ a scalable idea of using networked flying platforms (NFPs) as aerial
hubs to provide fronthaul connectivity to the SCs. We consider the association
problem of SCs and NFPs in a SC network and study the effect of practical
constraints related to the system and NFPs. Mainly, we show that the
association problem is related to the generalized assignment problem (GAP).
Using this relation with the GAP, we show the NP-hard complexity of the
association problem and further derive an upper bound for the maximum
achievable sum data rate. Linear Programming relaxation of the problem is also
studied to compare the results with the derived bounds. Finally, two efficient
(less complex) greedy solutions of the association problem are presented, where
one of them is a distributed solution and the other one is its centralized
version. Numerical results show a favorable performance of the presented
algorithms with respect to the exhaustive search and derived bounds. The
computational complexity comparison of the algorithms with the exhaustive
search is also presented to show that the presented algorithms can be
practically implemented.