1,578 research outputs found
Self Organizing strategies for enhanced ICIC (eICIC)
Small cells have been identified as an effective solution for coping with the
important traffic increase that is expected in the coming years. But this
solution is accompanied by additional interference that needs to be mitigated.
The enhanced Inter Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) feature has been
introduced to address the interference problem. eICIC involves two parameters
which need to be optimized, namely the Cell Range Extension (CRE) of the small
cells and the ABS ratio (ABSr) which defines a mute ratio for the macro cell to
reduce the interference it produces. In this paper we propose self-optimizing
algorithms for the eICIC. The CRE is adjusted by means of load balancing
algorithm. The ABSr parameter is optimized by maximizing a proportional fair
utility of user throughputs. The convergence of the algorithms is proven using
stochastic approximation theorems. Numerical simulations illustrate the
important performance gain brought about by the different algorithms.Comment: Submitted to WiOpt 201
Joint Resource Allocation for eICIC in Heterogeneous Networks
Interference coordination between high-power macros and low-power picos
deeply impacts the performance of heterogeneous networks (HetNets). It should
deal with three challenges: user association with macros and picos, the amount
of almost blank subframe (ABS) that macros should reserve for picos, and
resource block (RB) allocation strategy in each eNB. We formulate the three
issues jointly for sum weighted logarithmic utility maximization while
maintaining proportional fairness of users. A class of distributed algorithms
are developed to solve the joint optimization problem. Our framework can be
deployed for enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC) in existing
LTE-A protocols. Extensive evaluation are performed to verify the effectiveness
of our algorithms.Comment: Accepted by Globecom 201
Control-data separation architecture for cellular radio access networks: a survey and outlook
Conventional cellular systems are designed to ensure ubiquitous coverage with an always present wireless channel irrespective of the spatial and temporal demand of service. This approach raises several problems due to the tight coupling between network and data access points, as well as the paradigm shift towards data-oriented services, heterogeneous deployments and network densification. A logical separation between control and data planes is seen as a promising solution that could overcome these issues, by providing data services under the umbrella of a coverage layer. This article presents a holistic survey of existing literature on the control-data separation architecture (CDSA) for cellular radio access networks. As a starting point, we discuss the fundamentals, concepts, and general structure of the CDSA. Then, we point out limitations of the conventional architecture in futuristic deployment scenarios. In addition, we present and critically discuss the work that has been done to investigate potential benefits of the CDSA, as well as its technical challenges and enabling technologies. Finally, an overview of standardisation proposals related to this research vision is provided
On/Off Macrocells and Load Balancing in Heterogeneous Cellular Networks
The rate distribution in heterogeneous networks (HetNets) greatly benefits
from load balancing, by which mobile users are pushed onto lightly-loaded small
cells despite the resulting loss in SINR. This offloading can be made more
aggressive and robust if the macrocells leave a fraction of time/frequency
resource blank, which reduces the interference to the offloaded users. We
investigate the joint optimization of this technique - referred to in 3GPP as
enhanced intercell interference coordination (eICIC) via almost blank subframes
(ABSs) - with offloading in this paper. Although the joint cell association and
blank resource (BR) problem is nominally combinatorial, by allowing users to
associate with multiple base stations (BSs), the problem becomes convex, and
upper bounds the performance versus a binary association. We show both
theoretically and through simulation that the optimal solution of the relaxed
problem still results in an association that is mostly binary. The optimal
association differs significantly when the macrocell is on or off; in
particular the offloading can be much more aggressive when the resource is left
blank by macro BSs. Further, we observe that jointly optimizing the offloading
with BR is important. The rate gain for cell edge users (the worst 3-10%) is
very large - on the order of 5-10x - versus a naive association strategy
without macrocell blanking
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