Decomposition by Successive Convex Approximation: A Unifying Approach for Linear Transceiver Design in Heterogeneous Networks

We study the downlink linear precoder design problem in a multi-cell dense heterogeneous network (HetNet). The problem is formulated as a general sum-utility maximization (SUM) problem, which includes as special cases many practical precoder design problems such as multi-cell coordinated linear precoding, full and partial per-cell coordinated multi-point transmission, zero-forcing precoding and joint BS clustering and beamforming/precoding. The SUM problem is difficult due to its non-convexity and the tight coupling of the users’ precoders. In this paper we propose a novel convex approximation technique to approximate the original problem by a series of convex subproblems, each of which decomposes across all the cells. The convexity of the subproblems allows for efficient computation, while their decomposability leads to distributed implementation. Our approach is based upon the identification of certain key convexity properties of the sum-utility objective. Simulation experiment...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2016
• Where: TWC
• Authors: Mingyi Hong, Qiang Li, Ya-Feng Liu
• Keywords: TWC 2016