Resource allocation for preference-aware multicasting in active array aided LTE networks

In this paper, we investigate a preference-aware multicast mechanism in active array aided LTE (Long Term Evolution) networks. An active antenna system can direct vertical beams in different horizontal and vertical directions, so the amount of energy delivered is more concentrated on the target users. Employing the active array, each multicast group is provided with an individual beam with specific downtilt for delivering shared video to the whole users in the group. For the multicast system, our objective is to maximize the total throughput, subject to the constraints of subcarrier, antenna downtilt, as well as horizontal angles and the vertical half power bandwidth constrains. To solve the problem, individual beams is steered for multicast groups. Furthermore, a novel subcarrier assignment scheme is proposed for saving the spectrum resource. Simulation results demonstrate the throughput and the spectral efficiency enhancement of our proposed scheme over other conditional schemes.