Performance of limited feedback MU-MIMO in distributed antenna systems with different schedulers

Distributed antenna system (DAS) acts as an effective solution to mitigating interference and path-loss by decreasing the access distance for users, and increases the cell coverage and system capacity as well. This study evaluates performance of scheduling methods on the DAS where practical system constraints are considered, such as path-loss, out-of-cell interference and limited feedback. Zero-forcing multiuser MIMO precoding is utilized as downlink transmission strategy, when imperfect channel state information is available at the transmitter. System performance is evaluated by empirical cumulative density functions of the cell throughput, where a long-term evolution advanced (LTE-A) standard compliant simulator is utilized for simulation. It is demonstrated that by spreading the transmit antennas throughout the cell more cell throughput is achievable. Moreover, by utilizing an appropriate scheduling algorithm, more potential of DAS can be extracted and leads to substantial cell throughput.