Heterogeneous Cellular Network Models With Dependence

Abstract

Due to its tractability, a multitier model of mutually independent Poisson point processes (PPPs) for heterogeneous cellular networks (HCNs) has recently been attracting much attention. However, in reality, the locations of the BSs, within each tier and across tiers, are not fully independent. Accordingly, in this paper, we propose two HCN models with inter-tier dependence (Case 1) and intra-tier dependence (Case 2), respectively. In Case 1, the macro-base station (MBS) and the pico-base station (PBS) deployments follow a Poisson point process (PPP) and a Poisson hole process (PHP), respectively. Under this setup and conditioning on a fixed serving distance (distance between a user and its nearest serving BS), we derive bounds on the outage probabilities of both macro and pico users. We also use a fitted Poisson cluster process to approximate the PHP, which is shown to provide a good approximation of the interference and outage statistics. In Case 2, the MBSs and the PBSs follow a PPP and an independent Matern cluster process, respectively. Explicit expressions of the interference and the outage probability are derived first for fixed serving distance and second with random distance, and we derive the outage performance, the per-user capacity, and the area spectral efficiency (ASE) for both cases. It turns out that the proposed Case 2 model is a more appropriate and accurate model for a HCN with hotspot regions than the multitier independent PPP model since the latter underestimates some key performance metrics, such as the per-user capacity and the ASE, by a factor of 1.5 to 2. Overall, the two models proposed provide good tradeoffs between the accuracy, tractability, and practicability.