Macro with Pico Cells (HETNETS) System Behaviour using Well-Known Scheduling Algorithms

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the concept of using Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) to improve Long Term Evolution (LTE) system by introducing the LTE Advance (LTE-A). The type of HetNets that has been chosen for this study is Macro with Pico cells. Comparing the system performance with and without Pico cells has clearly illustrated using three well-known scheduling algorithms (Proportional Fair PF, Maximum Largest Weighted Delay First MLWDF and Exponential/Proportional Fair EXP/PF). The system is judged based on throughput, Packet Loss Ratio PLR, delay and fairness.A simulation platform called LTE-Sim has been used to collect the data and produce the paper outcomes and graphs. The results prove that adding Pico cells enhances the overall system performance. From the simulation outcomes, the overall system performance is as follows: throughput is duplicated or tripled based on the number of users, the PLR is almost quartered, the delay is nearly reduced ten times (PF case) and changed to be a half (MLWDF/EXP cases), and the fairness stays closer to value of 1. It is considered an efficient and cost effective way to increase the throughput, coverage and reduce the latency.