Efficient Algorithms for Sum Rate Maximization in Fronthaul-Constrained C-RANs

We consider downlink transmission of a fronthaul-constrained cloud radio access network. Our aim is to maximize the system sum data rate via jointly designing beamforming and user association. The problem is basically a mixed integer non-convex programs for which a global solution requires a prohibitively high computational effort. The focus is thus on efficient solutions capable of achieving the near optimal performance with low complexity. To this end, we transform the design problem into continuous programs by two approaches: penalty and sparse approximation methods. The resulting continuous nonconvex problems are then solved by the successive convex approximation framework. Numerical results indicate that the proposed methods are near-optimal, and outperform existing suboptimal methods in terms of achieved performances and computational complexity.