On the interference suppression capabilities of cognitive enabled femto cellular networks

Abstract

Cognitive Radios are considered as a standard part of future Heterogeneous mobile network architecture. In this paper, we consider a two tier Heterogeneous network with multiple radio access technologies (RATS) namely; (i) the secondary network which comprises of cognitive enabled femto base stations which are referred to as cognitive-femto BS (CFBS) such that each of the BS are equipped with a single antenna and (ii) the macrocell network which is considered as a primary network. The effectiveness of the cognitive transmission is based on the efficient spectrum sensing algorithms which determine the availability of the spectrum holes. However, it is equally important for the cognitive network to minimize the cross-tier interference particularly during (i) the spectrum sensing and (ii) the cognitive transmission if spectrum is available. By exploiting the cooperation among the CFBS, the multiple CFBS can be considered as a single base station with multiple geographically dispersed antennas. In this context, we proposed a smart network where CFBS collaborates to reduce the cross-tier interference level by directing the main beam toward the desired femtocell mobile user and creating null toward the cross-tier interference. The resultant network is referred to as Smart cognitive-femto network (SCFN) which requires the CFBS to be self-aware such that the CFBS are aware of their surroundings and adapt accordingly to maintain a reliable and efficient communication link. In order to determine the effectiveness of the proposed smart network, we study the interference rejection (or suppression) capabilities of the SCFN. It has been shown that the proposed smart network offers significant performance improvements in interference suppression and signal to interference ratio (SIR) and may be considered as a promising solution to the interference management problems in Heterogeneous network.