CA++: Enhancing Carrier Aggregation Beyond 5G

Carrier aggregation (CA) is an important component technology in 5G and beyond. It aggregates multiple spectrum fragments to serve a mobile device. However, the current CA suffers under both high mobility and increased spectrum space. The limitations are rooted in its sequential, cell-by-cell operations. In this work, we propose CA++, which departs from the current paradigm and explores a group-based design scheme. We thus propose new algorithms that enable concurrent channel inference by measuring one or few cells but inferring all, while minimizing measurement cost via set cover approximations. Our evaluations have confirmed the effectiveness of CA++. Our solution can also be adapted to fit in the current 5G OFDM PHY and the 3GPP framework.