Load Balancing in O-RAN

This paper addresses load balancing in open radio access networks (O-RAN), which aims to enhance network avail-ability without overloading the network when accommodating new user equipment (UEs) while ensuring an efficient allocation of resources to meet the data rate requirement of existing UEs. More precisely, we propose a resource allocation framework that balances the utilization of resource blocks (PRBs) at the radio units (RU s) as well as the computational resources at the distributed units (DUs) while maintaining the quality of service (QoS) demands of UEs. Given the combinatorial nature of the optimization problems, we propose, 1) a supermodular algorithm to find UE-RU assignments and 2) a job scheduling-inspired method to assign RUs to respective DUs. Through comprehensive simulations, we validate the effectiveness of our approach by showcasing substantial enhancements in the network load con-ditions and highlighting the superiority of the provided resource allocation scheme in terms of key performance indicators such as the call block ratio (CBR).