Resource Allocation for CoMP Enabled URLLC in 5G C-RAN Architecture

Abstract

Ultrareliable low-latency communication (URLLC) is one of the important service categories of 5G, where high reliability and low latency are to be met simultaneously. Coordinated multipoint (CoMP), where a user equipment (UE) is connected to multiple base stations simultaneously, can provide high reliability for interference limited cell-edge UEs. Short-packet communication and 5G physical layer enablers combined with CoMP can be a potential solution to meet the quality of service requirements of the URLLC traffic. However, there exist some challenges in using CoMP for URLLC in a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) architecture; mainly fronthaul capacity and remote radio head resource availability constraints. These resource constraints are addressed in this article; and a resource allocation scheme based on the effective bandwidth concept and 5G enablers is proposed, which can meet the reliability and delay requirements of the URLLC traffic. End-to-end error and latency components are identified and the interplay existing among the error components is utilized for bandwidth minimization. A novel packet delivery mechanism, queuing strategy, and time-frequency resource allocation for CoMP enabled URLLC in C-RAN architecture are proposed. The proposed scheme shows superior performance, in terms of the resource utilization and UE satisfaction, when compared with the existing techniques.