Analysis and Optimization of FFR-Aided OFDMA-Based Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

Abstract

Two-tier networks combining an operator-managed infrastructure of macrocell base stations combined with a user-deployed network of femtocells have recently emerged in the context of modern wireless standards as a solution to meet the ambitious performance requirements envisaged in 4G/5G architectures. Most often, these systems require interference coordination schemes that allow near universal frequency reuse while maintaining a considerably high signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio levels across the coverage area. In particular, fractional frequency reuse (FFR) and its variants are deemed to play a fundamental role in the next generation of cellular systems. This paper develops an analytical framework targeting the downlink performance evaluation of FFR-aided orthogonal frequency division multiple access-based two-tier heterogeneous networks. In the considered scenario, macrocell and femtocell tiers are assumed to be uncoordinated and co-channel deployed, thus representing a worst-case scenario in terms of inter-tier interference. The proposed framework allows the evaluation of the impact produced by both inter- and co-tier interferences on the performance of either the macro-users (MUs) or the femto-users. Analytical results are used to optimize the FFR parameters as a function of, for example, the density of MUs per cell, the resource block scheduling policy, the density of femto base stations per area unit, or the degree of isolation provided by wall penetration losses. Moreover, different optimization designs of the FFR component are proposed that allow a tradeoff between throughput performance and fairness by suitably dimensioning the FFR inner and outer areas and the corresponding frequency allocation.