System level performance of uplink transmission in split-PHY processing architecture with joint reception for future radio access

In this paper, the system level performance of uplink transmission in the split-PHY processing (SPP) architecture is evaluated. The SPP architecture splits the PHY functions of the base station so that some PHY functions are implemented on the remote radio head (RRH). Compared to the centralized radio access network (C-RAN) architecture with common public radio interface (CPRI), the SPP architecture significantly reduces the required optical bandwidth in the mobile front-haul. Moreover, by implementing the FEC processing in the baseband unit (BBU), joint reception can be realized in uplink transmissions by forwarding the quantized log likelihood ratio (LLR) from RRHs to the BBU. System level evaluations show that the SPP architecture improves the cell-edge user throughput by 116 % compared with the MAC-PHY split architecture without coordinated operations while reducing the required optical bandwidth by 92 % compared with the C-RAN architecture.