Optimising fractional frequency reuse designs in MIMO networks

Fractional frequency reuse (FFR) is an interference cancellation technique that has become increasingly popular in the context of 4G systems. The combination of FFR with advanced multiple-antenna technology in the form of multiuser MIMO (MU-MIMO) and base station cooperation using coordinated multipoint transmission (CoMP), paves the way to realize the ambitious goals in terms of area spectral efficiency contemplated within LTE-A. This work explores various architectures combining the use of FFR and advanced MIMO procesing (MU-MIMO, CoMP). Single -antenna and multiple-antenna configurations at each communicating end have been considered. An abstraction of the physical layer of the proposed system is provided in the form of SINR expressions that can then be used to derive optimal values for different parameters, most notably, those affecting the FFR configuration such as the threshold radius delimiting the central and edge areas of the cell