QoS-aware joint uplink-downlink scheduling in FDD LTE-Advanced with carrier aggregation

Efficient resource utilization is of a high importance for LTE/LTE-A network performance and provisioning of user quality of experience. The eNodeB (LTE base station) is responsible for controlling the radio resources between the user and LTE /LTE-A network. The resources can be scheduled in two schemes; either independently or jointly by considering both uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) together. Joint scheduling is an attractive approach for resource utilization and for providing better Quality of Service (QoS), but it adds some computational complexity to the system. This paper aims to provide QoS-aware joint UL-DL scheduling for LTE-A utilizing the functionality of carrier aggregation. The scheme presented enforces the fair sharing of the resources between the UL and DL channels while maintaining good QoS. The work is based on simulation using the MATLAB-based IS-Wireless system level simulator. The key contributions of this work lie in addressing both the joint scheduling and the carrier aggregations while considering the QoS and traffic conditions of the users.