Abstract
In today’s heterogeneous networking (HetNet) environments, where end users are provided with universal connectivity opportunities, femtocell deployments can become key players in the enhancement of critical performance indicators such as capacity, coverage, QoS, etc. In order to confront the up-to-date LTE femtocell challenges, we propose a context-aware framework that provides a controlled environment from the femtocell point of view, which is required for applicable functionality. More specifically, we aim to (a) control the local environment where the femtocell is placed within, by efficiently managing the total incoming traffic load and by continuously adjusting the distribution of the backhaul capacity among the coexisting networks and (b) control the macro–femto interference caused by macrocell users transmitting close to the femtocell by investigating the “femtocell as a relay” concept. Finally, the performance of the proposed framework is evaluated via simulation results showing that the overall performance of a HetNet environment can be leveraged in terms of QoS requirements, energy saving and data rate enhancement.
Highlights
The Future Internet (FI) vision is expected to extend the “Always Best Connected” (ABC) notion and include use cases according to which the FI end user will attain any service on a single intelligent device using any available network within a heterogeneous network environment consisting of open, cognitive, and collaborative wireless and wireline networks
Among a plethora of research issues examined in the heterogeneous and small cell network (HetSNet) area, we dealt with open challenges such as the femtocells’ limited backhaul capabilities and the macrocell/femtocell cooperation by proposing networking resources and interference management solutions from the femtocell point of view
Simulation results show that context-aware framework for LTE femtocells’ efficient integration (CA-FEI) outperforms competitive schemes used in real-market femtocell deployments regarding QoS, energy savings, and data rate enhancements achieving to (a) provide a predetermined QoS even under varying traffic loads via the resource management (RRM) integration layer and (b) contribute to the reduction of the macrocell/femtocell interference via the relay module
Summary
The Future Internet (FI) vision is expected to extend the “Always Best Connected” (ABC) notion and include use cases according to which the FI end user will attain any service on a single intelligent device (e.g., smartphone, tablet, etc.) using any available network within a heterogeneous network environment consisting of open, cognitive, and collaborative wireless and wireline networks. The setup phase regards the setting of the initial operating parameters, while the monitoring and gathering processes monitor the statistical properties of the incoming traffic load and backhaul capacity in order to adjust, if necessary, the parameters originally selected by the user and to trigger the operation of the relay module. The initial virtual capacity partitioning should be performed for the worst-case situation, where the traffic load intensity Aj offered by each ISGj has its maximum value, while at the same time the backhaul capacity has its minimum value Cmin. During this critical system state, the VP of the delay insensitive background services, denoted in the following as VPB, is restricted to its minimum size. The VPs’ size is not fixed, but instead it is adjusted in response to the variations of the traffic load composition
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call