On improving network capacity for downlink and uplink of two-tier LTE-FDD networks

A Long Term Evolution-Frequency Division Duplexing (LTE-FDD) small cell is one of the promising solutions for improving service quality and data rate in both the uplink and downlink of home users. Small cell (e.g., femtocell, picocell, microcell) is short range, low cost and low power base station installed by the indoor consumers. However, the avoidance of interferences is still an issue that needs to be addressed for successful deployment of small base stations (SBS) within existing macro cell networks mainly in co-channel deployment. Moreover, interferences are strongly dependent on the type of access control of small cells. Closed and open access are in conflict interests for macro users and home users in the uplink and downlink. To mitigate this conflict, we propose a fully distributed algorithm based on the shared time access and executed by LTE-FDD small cells, in order to reduce the effect of interferences, improve QoS of users, and maximize the overall capacity of downlink and uplink in two-tier LTE networks when small cells are deployed randomly. Simulation results validate our algorithm and show the improvement attained in offloading macro cell and satisfying QoS requirements of home users compared to the closed and open access mechanisms in both the uplink and downlink. © 2015 IEEE.