Radio resource calendaring in cloud-based radio access networks

Bandwidth calendaring refers to the possibility of shifting some bulk data transfers, typically of large size with less stringent real-time constraint, to the moments when the network is less congested. In this paper, we exploit calendering in radio resource allocation in Cloud-based Radio Access Networks (C-RANs), where calendaring naturally fits the centralized C-RAN architecture. We formulate the optimal calendaring problem using Integer Linear Programming (ILP), taking into account specific constraints of users' connections and the C-RAN operator. Given the complexity of the optimization problem, we devise effective heuristics producing close-to-optimum solutions in polynomial time. Extensive simulations, conducted in representative network scenarios, demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach in improving the performance of C-RAN scheduling.