Performance analysis of flexible indoor and outdoor user distribution in urban multi-tier heterogeneous network

Abstract

The next generation heterogeneous networks (hetnet) refer to a complex eco system of radio cells with varying coverage ranges and technologies that interoperate to deliver the required capacity and coverage. This paper addresses the impact of large scale transmissions and analyses the performance of a typical user distribution in an urban multi-tier hetnet. A Boolean scheme of building blockage has been used to abstract the urban environment, which affects the architecture of hetnet with millimetre wave (mmW) access. A distribution mechanism is proposed to enable the indoor users to operate in mmW band whereas the outdoor users to operate in microwave (μWave) band. An indoor user can be connected with mmW band if the line-of-sight (LOS) link exists. Otherwise, the exploitation is provided with μWave band to enhance the coverage. By employing tools from stochastic geometry, the mathematical expressions are derived for coverage probability, rate and spatial average channel capacity of a user in indoor and outdoor environments. The exact mathematical results show that an impact of small cell occupation ratio results in maximised spatial average channel capacity of an outdoor hetnet. The significant enhancement is provided with mmW small cell in terms of rate and coverage.