A Novel Distributed Scheduling Algorithm for Uplink MU-MIMO Systems

The virtual multiple-input multiple-output (V-MIMO) and coordinated multipoint transmission and reception (CoMP) have been adopted by the LTE- Advanced as these techniques can significantly improve the uplink spectral efficiency. Given the poor cell-edge performance of the conventional determinant pairing scheduling (DPS), and the heavy backhaul brings about by performing coordinated reception (CR) to all UEs, this paper deals with a novel distributed scheduling algorithm for uplink multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) systems. The proposed algorithm differentiates the scheduling approaches based on a new criterion to distinguish UEs and a redefined pairing scheduling metric, which allows for further fine control over the scheduling algorithm. Simulation results shows that the proposed algorithm outperforms DPS with more considerable improvement of spectral efficiency and more flexibility.