  Distributed-Multiple Input Multiple Output (DMIMO) networks is a promising
enabler to address the challenges of high traffic demand in future wireless
networks. A limiting factor that is directly related to the performance of
these systems is the overhead signaling required for distributing data and
control information among the network elements. In this paper, the concept of
orthogonal partitioning is extended to D-MIMO networks employing joint
multi-user beamforming, aiming to maximize the effective sum-rate, i.e., the
actual transmitted information data. Furthermore, in order to comply with
practical requirements, the overhead subframe size is considered to be
constrained. In this context, a novel formulation of constrained orthogonal
partitioning is introduced as an elegant Knapsack optimization problem, which
allows the derivation of quick and accurate solutions. Several numerical
results give insight into the capabilities of D-MIMO networks and the actual
sum-rate scaling under overhead constraints.
