Cloud RAN for Mobile Networks-A Technology Overview

Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) is a novel mobile network architecture which can address a number of challenges the operators face while trying to support growing end-user's needs. The main idea behind C-RAN is to pool the Baseband Units (BBUs) from multiple base stations into centralized BB...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE Communications surveys and tutorials Vol. 17; no. 1; pp. 405 - 426
Main Authors Checko, Aleksandra, Christiansen, Henrik L., Yan, Ying, Scolari, Lara, Kardaras, Georgios, Berger, Michael S., Dittmann, Lars
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 2015
Subjects
Antennas
Base stations
Baseband
Computer architecture
Mobile communication
Mobile computing
Radio access networks
virtualization
small cells
Cloud RAN
eICIC
mobile networks
CPRI
in-phase and quadrature (IQ) compression
CoMP
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Summary:Cloud Radio Access Network (C-RAN) is a novel mobile network architecture which can address a number of challenges the operators face while trying to support growing end-user's needs. The main idea behind C-RAN is to pool the Baseband Units (BBUs) from multiple base stations into centralized BBU Pool for statistical multiplexing gain, while shifting the burden to the high-speed wireline transmission of In-phase and Quadrature (IQ) data. C-RAN enables energy efficient network operation and possible cost savings on baseband resources. Furthermore, it improves network capacity by performing load balancing and cooperative processing of signals originating from several base stations. This paper surveys the state-of-the-art literature on C-RAN. It can serve as a starting point for anyone willing to understand C-RAN architecture and advance the research on C-RAN.
ISSN:1553-877X
DOI:10.1109/COMST.2014.2355255