Dynamic fractional frequency reuse (D‐FFR) for multicell OFDMA networks using a graph framework

Abstract

ABSTRACTA graph‐based framework is proposed in this paper to implement dynamic fractional frequency reuse (D‐FFR) in a multicell Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network. FFR is a promising resource‐allocation technique that can effectively mitigate intercell interference (ICI) in OFDMA networks. The proposed D‐FFR scheme enhances the conventional FFR by enabling adaptive spectral sharing as per cell‐load conditions. Such adaptation has significant benefits in practical systems where traffic loads in different cells are usually unequal and time‐varying. The dynamic adaptation is accomplished via a graph framework in which the resource‐allocation problem is solved in two phases: (1) constructing an interference graph that matches the specific realization of FFR and the network topology and (2) coloring the graph by use of a heuristic algorithm. Various realizations of FFR can easily be incorporated in the framework by manipulating the first phase. The performance improvement enabled by the proposed D‐FFR scheme is demonstrated by computer simulation for a 19‐cell network with equal and unequal cell loads. In the unequal‐load scenario, the proposed D‐FFR scheme offers significant performance improvement in terms of cell throughput and service rate as compared to conventional FFR and previous interference management schemes. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.