Efficient Resource Scheduling by Exploiting Relay Cache for Cellular Networks

In relay-enhanced cellular systems, throughput of User Equipment (UE) is constrained by the bottleneck of the two-hop link, backhaul link (or the first hop link), and access link (the second hop link). To maximize the throughput, resource allocation should be coordinated between these two hops. A common resource scheduling algorithm, Adaptive Distributed Proportional Fair, only ensures that the throughput of the first hop is greater than or equal to that of the second hop. But it cannot guarantee a good balance of the throughput and fairness between the two hops. In this paper, we propose a Two-Hop Balanced Distributed Scheduling (TBS) algorithm by exploiting relay cache for non-real-time data traffic. The evolved Node Basestation (eNB) adaptively adjusts the number of Resource Blocks (RBs) allocated to the backhaul link and direct links based on the cache information of relays. Each relay allocates RBs for relay UEs based on the size of the relay UE’s Transport Block. We also design a relay UE’s ACK feedback mechanism to update the data at relay cache. Simulation results show that the proposed TBS can effectively improve resource utilization and achieve a good trade-off between system throughput and fairness by balancing the throughput of backhaul and access link.