Time-Frequency Coupled Proportional Fair Scheduler with Multicarrier Awareness for LTE Downlink

Proportional fair schedulers have been thoroughly used in LTE due to their ability to provide a good trade-off between cell spectral efficiency and user fairness. Current algorithms provide suboptimum solutions at a low computational cost, but present several drawbacks. This paper proposes a CMA-PFS for LTE downlink that increases efficiency as compared with current algorithms with independent time and frequency domain scheduling, referred to as D-PFS. The proposed algorithm includes new features such as tight coupling between time and frequency domain scheduling and multicarrier transmission awareness. Simulations have been conducted using an IMT-Advanced compliant semi-static simulator. Results show that the CMA-PFS improves proportional fairness as compared with D-PFS that is reflected both in an increase of cell spectral efficiency (around +2%) and a higher cell-edge user spectral efficiency (around +10%) in a SU- MIMO system.