Resource-Allocation and Load-Balancingin Cloud Radio Access Network for 5G Network

Abstract

The need for higher data speeds, fast and efficient network services are pushing towards thefuture generation of mobile network, the 5G. It is envisioned as the next big step in mobiletechnology which would offer a giant leap in terms of data speeds and quality of service.Many mobile network architectures and technologies are in the proposal to use with the 5G.Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) is the next generation architecture for the mobile net-work that is able to solve most of the difficulties faced by current cellular service providers.C-RAN introduces an advanced, flexible and scalable base station (BS) architecture for thenext generation wireless and mobile networks. The basic idea behind C-RAN is to divide theBS functionality between a distributed radio unit known as remote radio head (RRH) and acentralized and virtualized baseband-pool (BBU-pool). A C-RAN can be more scalable byuse of proper load balancing technique at both RRH and BBU-pool. In this work, we havedone the resource allocation and load balancing work in a cloud-RAN architecture. The firstphase of this work deals with the packet allocation policy to the virtual box (VB) and the VBallocation to BBU host. We have proposed a resource allocation policy (PBA) for C-RANfor proper resource measurement. The second part of the work deals with different load bal-ancing approaches in C-RAN. We examine the different load situation and mathematicallyformulate the corresponding load balancing situation at both RRH and BBU-pool. For real-time handling of cellular traffic, an advance co-operative load balancing (CLB) algorithmis proposed, which able to balance the load at RRH as well as at BBU-pool. The primaryfocus of the CLB is to maximize the utilization of hardware resources at BBU-pool by usinga cooperative and dynamic load sharing technique at the RRH level. Finally, to validate thedifferent mathematical model and proposed algorithm, extensive simulation has been carried.