# Uplink performance of multi-antenna cellular networks with co-operative base stations and user-centric clustering

## TL;DR

This paper analyzes the spectral efficiency of user-centric cooperative cellular networks with multiple antennas, using stochastic geometry and large-antenna asymptotics, revealing optimal cooperation strategies based on system parameters.

## Contribution

It provides a novel analytical framework combining stochastic geometry and random matrix theory to evaluate spectral efficiency in cooperative multi-antenna networks.

## Key findings

- Cooperative antennas should be co-located at a single BS for fixed antenna constraints.
- Increasing the number of cooperating BSs benefits area-limited antenna density scenarios.
- Derived simple expressions for spectral efficiency in large-antenna regimes.

## Abstract

We consider a user-centric co-operative cellular network, where base stations (BSs) close to a mobile co-operate to detect its signal using a (joint) linear minimum-mean-square-error receiver. The BSs are at arbitrary positions and mobiles are modeled as a planar Poisson Point Process (PPP). Combining stochastic geometry and infinite-random-matrix theory, we derive a simple expression for the spectral efficiency of this complex system as the number of antennas grows large. This framework is applied to BS locations from PPPs and hexagonal grids, and are validated through Monte Carlo simulations. The results reveal the influence of tangible system parameters such as mobile and base-station densities, number of antennas per BS, and number of co-operating BSs on achievable spectral efficiencies. Among other insights, we find that for a given BS density and a constraint on the total number of co-operating antennas, all co-operating antennas should be located at a single BS. On the other hand, in our asymptotic regime, for the same number of co-operating antennas, if the network is limited by the area density of antennas, then the number of co-operating BSs should be increased with fewer antennas per BS.