Multi-cell coordination in Cloud RAN: Architecture and optimization

Coordination between neighboring cells is intended to be implemented in future mobile networks, since it promises significant performance gains. Despite low-latency cooperation made possible by Cloud Radio Access Networks (C-RAN), practical feasibility and improvements brought to a real system were still to be evaluated. We define in this paper an architecture based on the abstraction and scalability provided by Software Defined Networking (SDN) enabling multi-cell coordination both on the uplink and downlink. We also evaluate gains offered by the proposed coordination algorithms under practical conditions. The described proof-of-concept platform shows not only why multi-cell cooperation is useful, but also how to make it happen.