A novel cloud RAN architecture for 5G HetNets and QoS evaluation

Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) is a novel mobile network architecture which is deemed to be one of the most promising evolution trends towards future networks. The basic concept of cloud-RAN is to separate the digital baseband processing units (BBUs) of conventional cell sites, from the Radio Remote Heads (RRHs), and move them to the cloud (BBU pool) for centralized signal processing and management. In this paper we propose a novel architecture for C-RAN based on Cloud-RRH which consist on adding extra resources to RRHs in the cloud. This novel architecture is expected to enhance the offloading and ameliorate the QoS of 5G heterogeneous networks (HetNets) in C-RAN context. Numerical results show that the proposed architecture can significantly reduce the energy spent by mobile terminals compared with the conventional C-RAN systems.