Small Cells Integration with the Macro-Cell Under LTE Cellular Networks and Potential Extension for 5G

Abstract

Heterogeneous Networks (HetNet) requires the deployment of small cell networks that can co-exist with the existing macro-cell. To provide a high Quality of Service (QoS), a massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) must be equipped with a HetNet of a macro-cell base station to the multiple users. This paper highlights three important aspects of the emerging small cell wireless networks. First, the architectures of small cell networks in LTE wireless network is reviewed, with specific references to the current wireless network standards. Second, the performance evaluation of overlay small cells integrated with the underlay macro-cell is investigated. The third part of this study focuses on the future trends of small cell deployment in 5G and the critical technical preparation needs to be done to allow integration with the existing 4G network. The results show that the proposed integration of 5G small cells into existing macro 4G networks has improved both of the data rate (91.46%) and energy efficiency (98.66%).