Dynamic Base Station Clustering in User-Centric mmWave Networks: Performance Analysis and Optimization

Abstract

In millimeter wave (mmWave) networks, base stations (BSs) are expected to be densely deployed in order to meet the demands of mobile users. A major challenge in dense mmWave networks is the interference experienced by the user from the neighboring BSs which limits the density of deployed BSs. A promising solution to this challenge is to adopt user-centric BS cooperation that allows a user to be connected to a set (cluster) of BSs instead of being associated with a single one. In this paper, we investigate the performance of user-centric mmWave networks with dynamic clustering. First, we propose a dynamic clustering model to enable the user-centric BS cooperation. Then, based on the proposed model, we analyze the coverage probability and average spectral efficiency (ASE) performances using stochastic geometry tools. We also propose a BS clustering optimization framework to achieve maximum ASE performance for given network configuration. Finally, numerical and simulation results are provided, showing that the proposed dynamic clustering schemes always outperform static clustering and single-BS selection schemes and yield an optimum system performance for given network parameters.