Performance analysis of millimeter wave cloud radio access networks

In this paper, we analyse the performance of a millimeter wave (mmWave) cloud radio access network (CRAN), where remote radio heads (RRHs) are modelled as a homogeneous Poisson point process (PPP) and blockages are randomly distributed. In contrast to the previous works on CRAN that operate below 6GHz, we consider CRAN operating in mmWave range (30-300 GHz). Since blockages have a significant impact on mmWave communications, we adopt a distance-dependent line-of-sight (LOS) probability function and model the locations of the LOS and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) RRHs as two independent non-homogeneous PPP. The outage performance and ergodic capacity of the LOS and NLOS RRHs are analysed and compared. When the RRH with the best channel is selected for transmission, the expressions of outage probability and throughput are provided. The presented results show that due to the severe path loss in NLOS links, in low transmitted power regime, the best RRH (BR) is always LOS. However, in high transmitted power regime, NLOS RRHs can be BR.