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Cell Selection for Load Balancing in Heterogeneous Networks

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Abstract

The vision of advanced long-term evolution (LTE-A) project is set to ultimate increase of network capacity in heterogeneous networks (HetNets). In HetNets with small cell configuration, a considerable majority of user devices is eventually connected to the macrocell base station (MBS), while small base stations (BSs), such as femtocell access points (FAPs), are still without any user. This results in unbalanced load and reduces the data rate of macrocell user equipment (MUE). In this paper, a method is proposed for load balancing among FAPs, while desired throughput is achieved. The proposed method uses the estimated received signal strength from different BSs and adjusted pilot signals. Under the critical signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) condition, a list of candidate FAPs is prepared. The updated candidate list henceforth does not include the least visited FAPs, which in turn leads to lower unnecessary handoffs. Once the BS with the highest number of free RBs and the highest pilot signal power is selected, FAP allocates the RBs with higher SINRs (qualified RBs) to user. In the case of FAP unavailability, the algorithm compels users to connect to the MBS with adequate qualified RBs. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated under a variety of FAPs density, and the number and velocity of users in terms of throughput and Jain’s fairness index. The results evidence affordable improvements in the throughput and Jain’s index in comparison with other methods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical Engineering, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

    Yasin Aghazadeh, Hashem Kalbkhani & Mahrokh G. Shayesteh

  2. Wireless Research Lab, ACRI, Electrical Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Mahrokh G. Shayesteh

  3. Department of IT and Computer Engineering, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia, Iran

    Vahid Solouk

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  1. Yasin Aghazadeh
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  2. Hashem Kalbkhani
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  3. Mahrokh G. Shayesteh
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  4. Vahid Solouk
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Correspondence to Hashem Kalbkhani.

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Aghazadeh, Y., Kalbkhani, H., Shayesteh, M.G. et al. Cell Selection for Load Balancing in Heterogeneous Networks. Wireless Pers Commun 101, 305–323 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11277-018-5689-2

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