User-centric JT-CoMP clustering in a 5G cell-less architecture

This work investigates the performance of user-centric joint transmission coordinated multipoint (JT-CoMP) clustering in a control/data decoupled cell-less architecture taking radio resource assignment into account. In CoMP networks, a trade-off exists between signal to interference noise ratio (SINR) gain and loss of radio resources. To achieve a balance between SINR gain and loss of radio resources, it is essential to find an optimal power level difference (PLD) value that can identify the number of users that can operate under a CoMP mode. Also, CoMP requires a proper radio resource management approach that can support the resource assignment from multiple base stations (BSs). In this paper, we study the effect of choosing a PLD value on the per-user throughput of CoMP and non-CoMP users. Also, we provide a radio resource management scheme that can support a CoMP cell-less architecture. Simulation results demonstrated that a PLD value of 5 dB can provide a good balance between SINR gain and loss of radio resources. Also, efficient radio resource scheduling improves the throughput of 65% of non-CoMP users and 35% of CoMP users when the PLD value is 5 dB.