Mobile telecommunications networks based on Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology
promise faster throughput to their users. LTE networks are however susceptible
to a phenomenon known as inter-cell interference which can greatly reduce the
throughput of the network causing unacceptable degradation of performance for cell
edge users.
A number of approaches to mitigating or minimising inter-cell interference have
been presented in the literature such as randomisation, cancellation and coordination.
The possibility of coordination between network nodes in an LTE network is
made possible through the introduction of the X2 network link.
This thesis explores approaches to reducing the effect of inter-cell interference on
the throughput of LTE networks by using the X2 link to coordinate the scheduling
of radio resources. Three approaches to the reduction of inter-cell interference were
developed. Localised organisation is a centralised scheme in which a scheduler is
optimised by a Genetic Algorithm (GA) to reduce interference. Networked organisation
makes use of the X2 communications link to enable the network nodes to
exchange scheduling information in a way that lowers the level of interference across
the whole network. Finally a more distributed and de-centralised approach is taken
in which each of the network nodes optimises its own scheduling in coordination
with its neighbours.
An LTE network simulator was built to allow for experimental comparison between
these techniques and a number of existing approaches and to serve as a test
bed for future algorithm development. These approaches were found to significantly
improve the throughput of the cell edge users who were most affected by intereference.
In particular the networked aspect of these approaches yielded the best initial
results showing clear improvement over the existing state of the art. The distributed
approach shows significant promise given further development.EPSR
