Providing performance guarantees is one of the {critical} objectives of {recent and future} communication networks, toward which regulations, {i.e., constraints on key system parameters,} have played an indispensable role. This is the case for large wireless communication networks, where spatial regulations (e.g., constraints on intercell distance) have recently been shown, through a spatial network calculus, to be essential for establishing provable wireless link-level guarantees. In this work, we focus on performance guarantees for {the downlink of} cellular networks where we impose a hardcore (spatial) regulation on base station (BS) locations and evaluate {how BS scheduling (which controls which BSs can transmit at a given time) impacts performance}. Hardcore regulation is the simplest form of spatial regulation that enforces a minimal distance between any pair of transmitters in the network. Within this framework of spatial network calculus, we first provide an upper bound on the power of total interference for a spatially regulated cellular network, and then, identify the regimes where scheduling BSs yields {better} link-level rate guarantees compared to scenarios where base stations are always active. The hexagonal cellular network is analyzed as a special case. The results offer insights into what spatial regulations are needed, when to choose scheduling, and how to potentially reduce the network power consumption {to provide a certain target performance guarantee}.

翻译：提供性能保证是近期及未来通信网络的关键目标之一，而调控（即对关键系统参数的约束）在此过程中发挥着不可或缺的作用。对于大规模无线通信网络而言，空间调控（例如小区间距离约束）通过空间网络演算方法已被证明是建立可验证无线链路级性能保证的关键。本研究聚焦蜂窝网络下行链路的性能保证，通过对基站位置施加硬核（空间）调控，评估基站调度（控制特定时刻可传输的基站集合）对性能的影响。硬核调控是最简单的空间调控形式，它强制要求网络中任意发射节点对之间保持最小距离。在此空间网络演算框架下，我们首先给出空间调控蜂窝网络中总干扰功率的上界，进而识别出相较于基站持续活跃场景，采用基站调度能获得更优链路级速率保证的机制域。作为特例，本文对六边形蜂窝网络进行了分析。研究结果为以下问题提供了理论依据：需要何种空间调控、何时选择调度策略，以及如何降低网络功耗以实现特定目标性能保证。