Cluster-Based Interference-Coordinated Puncturing for URLLC in Multi-Cell Networks

Abstract

Puncturing is an effective mechanism for supporting Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) over ongoing enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) transmissions in 5G networks. In multi-cell scenarios, URLLC puncturing decisions are strongly coupled across cells, since puncturing on a resource block (RB) affects not only the local eMBB transmission but also the inter-cell interference experienced by neighboring links. This paper investigates mini-slot-level URLLC puncturing in multicell downlink networks, where the slot-level eMBB allocation is treated as a predetermined baseline RB occupancy. To address the cross-cell interference coupling, a cluster-based interferencecoordinated puncturing scheme is proposed. Specifically, active URLLC users are grouped by hierarchical clustering according to their interference compatibility, and coordinated RB assignment is then performed through cost evaluation and matching under eMBB loss protection constraints. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme achieves lower eMBB loss while better supporting URLLC transmission in multi-cell interference scenarios.