Traffic Management in Cell-Free-Based 6G Networks

6G networks are envisioned as the key enabler for the intelligent information society of the next decade, targeting to achieve improved performance and satisfy demanding services and applications. This transition from the fifth generation requires novel and efficient approaches in the network design and network management domains that are able to achieve vital key performance indicators related to network densification, network throughput, positioning accuracy, energy efficiency. Cell-free networking is considered as a promising candidate for 6G, as it combines the advantages of distributed systems and massive number of antennas, thus being able to significantly improve the wireless transmission efficiency and provide better coverage. In this paper, we present a simulation study of a cell-free based 6G network that jointly considers the utilization of the communication resources at the radio edge and at the fronthaul. The proposed study considers various techniques for the allocation of the resources at the two network segments, targeting to reduce the case where bandwidth compression (due to unavailability of resources) occur. The evaluation of the proposed solutions reveals that the application of a threshold policy may be beneficial for the end-users in terms of lower bandwidth compression rate.