Towards fully collaborative MIMO communication in cellular networks

In this work, we envision a fully collaborative network paradigm in which both the evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and the User Equipment (UE)s collaborate between themselves to achieve the full benefits of MIMO communication. One of the major building blocks in deploying fully collaborative networks is achieving efficient UE-UE collaboration. We study various UE-UE collaboration scenarios in the context of MIMO communications and evaluate them using an enterprise grade simulator. The results show significant improvements in the UE throughputs in a realistic cellular network. The studied UE-UE collaboration schemes are also applicable to similar collaborative relationships between UEs and other elements (e.g., relay stations) of a cellular network.