RMIP: Resource management with interference precancellation in heterogeneous cellular networks

Abstract

Network densification by installing more cellular stations (cells) with smaller coverage is a promising technique to improve wireless capacity to meet the overwhelming demands for mobile data usage. These smaller cells with different coverage and the macrocellular base station form heterogeneous cellular networks (HetNet). However, the dense deployment of HetNet cells might result in unexpected inter-cell interference. In cellular networks, the data to all cells and to the mobile stations (MSs) are originated from the core cellular network. We take advantage of this characteristic and propose a technique called interference precancellation. If the interferer to an MS is identified, the victim cell that serves the victim MS transmits the interference precanceled signal, which is the signal intended for the victim MS subtracts the interference signal. The interference precanceled signal and the interference signal scramble at the victim MS and become the intended signal. With interference precancellation, the interferer and the victim cell can utilize the same wireless resources and thus the capacity is further improved. However, some MSs are interference-free and for MSs whose exact interferers cannot be determined, the MSs still require isolated resources. We propose an algorithm for resource management with interference precancellation (RMIP) that jointly considers MSs experiencing different level of interference. Through experiments on GNURadio/USRP, we show that the known interference signal can be precanceled and the combination of the interference signal and the precanceled signal becomes the intended signal. Through simulation, we evaluate the performance in larger HetNets.