In a cooperative multiple-antenna downlink cellular network, maximization of a concave function of user rates is considered. A new linear precoding technique called soft interference nulling (SIN) is proposed, which performs at least as well as zero-
forcing (ZF) beamforming. All base stations share channel state information, but each users message is only routed to those that participate in the users coordination cluster. SIN precoding is particularly useful when clusters of limited sizes overlap in the network, in which case traditional techniques such as dirty paper coding or ZF do not directly apply. The SIN precoder is computed by solving a sequence of convex optimization problems. SIN under partial network coordination can outperform ZF under full network coordination at moderate SNRs. Under overlapping coordination clusters, SIN precoding achieves considerably higher throughput compared to myopic ZF, especially when the clusters are large.
A simple line network model is proposed to study the downlink cellular network. Without base station cooperation, the system is interference-limited. The interference limitation is overcome when the base stations are allowed to jointly encode the use
r signals, but the capacity-achieving dirty paper coding scheme can be too complex for practical implementation. A new linear precoding technique called soft interference nulling (SIN) is proposed, which performs at least as well as zero-forcing (ZF) beamforming under full network coordination. Unlike ZF, SIN allows the possibility of but over-penalizes interference. The SIN precoder is computed by solving a convex optimization problem, and the formulation is extended to multiple-antenna channels. SIN can be applied when only a limited number of base stations cooperate; it is shown that SIN under partial network coordination can outperform full network coordination ZF at moderate SNRs.
