ILP Based Optimal BBU Pool Planning for Cloud-RAN Deployment: in the Context of Ethiotelecom
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Date
2023-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Cloud radio access network (C-RAN) is a novel mobile network architecture that decouples the baseband units (BBUs) from their corresponding cell sites and takes the baseband processing unit to a virtualized and shared central location. This increases wireless networks' scalability, manageability, and significantly saves both the capital and operational costs of mobile network operators (MNOs). Although this BBU centralization enables power savings, it imposes much higher bandwidth on the fronthaul network.
Since with distributed radio access network (D-RAN) there is a higher building, maintenance and operational costs there should be a RAN architectural change, and in addition to previously done researches in this area this thesis comprise the impact of wireless interface delay on BBU centralization. We investigate the optimal planning of BBU pools for C-RAN deployment in the context of Ethiotelecom and shows how to optimally determine the required number of BBU pools for different use cases using an integer linear programming (ILP) optimization problem and calculates the required budget to deploy a single BBU pool. We also figure out which functional split is cost-effective for fronthaul networks while providing the centralization benefits.
Simulation results show that the wireless interface delay has an impact on BBU centralization therefore it should be considered in the BBU pool planning process. On the other hand, the number of BBU pools required varies depending on the use cases considered, hence for the chosen area ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) services require 5 BBU pools, real-time functions such as voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE) require 3 BBU pools; in contrast latency-insensitive applications, such as email 2 BBU pools are sufficient to meet the required performance requirements. Furthermore, split option 7.2 was selected
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Keywords
BBU centralization, C-RAN, Fronthaul network, Functional split, ILP, Wireless interface delay.