Heterogeneous Cellular Networks

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Macro–Femto Heterogeneous Network Deployment and Management

Peng Lin, Jin Zhang, Yanjiao Chen, and Qian Zhang

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China

Femtocell techniques can address the problem of poor coverage within buildings and increase the network capacity cost-efficiently. Until now, some wireless service providers (WSPs) have launched their femtocell services while there are still plenty of challenges unsettled. In this chapter, we discuss the business mode in macro–femto heterogeneous networks.

We propose three frameworks for heterogeneous network deployment and management according to the deployment types of femtocells: joint deployment, WSP deployment and user deployment. In the joint-deployment framework, the femtocells are provided by the WSP and paid for by users. In the WSP-deployment framework, the WSP does not charge users for the femtocells installed. In the user-deployment framework, users unilaterally purchase femtocells from retail stores and install them. The unique characteristics, corresponding challenges and potential solutions of these frameworks are further investigated to provide a deeper insight systematically.

We also present two schemes for WSP revenue maximization under the WSP-deployment framework. The first scheme jointly handles the interference and user demand satisfaction via cross-tier channel allocation and the second scheme further considers the optimal pricing selection for accessing different networks. Through the two ...