On the deployment problem in cell-free networks

Diaz-Vilor, Carles; Lozano Solsona, Angel; Jafarkhani, Hamid

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/GLOBECOM46510.2021.9685887

On the deployment problem in cell-free networks

Citation

Diaz-Vilor C, Lozano A, Jafarkhani H. On the deployment problem in cell-free networks. In: 2021 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM): proceedings; 2021 Dec 7-11; Madrid, Spain. [Piscataway]: IEEE; 2021. [6 p.]. DOI: 10.1109/GLOBECOM46510.2021.9685887

Abstract

Cell-free (CF) structures are expected to be a game changer for beyond-5G wireless networks. With every user potentially communicating with every base station, cooperation at a central processing point is poised to provide much higher spectral efficiencies. At the same time, the growing interest in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) makes CF-UAV networks an appealing scenario. This paper investigates the uplink of a CF network where UAVs serve as flying base stations. The optimization of the UAV locations is shown to markedly increase the minimum local-average signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, which in turn increases the spectral efficiency. The improvements are associated to pilot contamination and to geometry.