LTE Communications and Networks

2 LTE Femtocells

Ghazanfar Ali Safdar

School of Computer Science and Technology, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK

Recently, considerable attention has been devoted to the potential of the femtocell as a solution to poor indoor network coverage. It has been exploited to provide higher capacity and intelligent coverage with an improvement in quality of service (QoS) for future indoor services. Though the advantages of femtocells cannot be overemphasized, they introduce some challenges, mostly with respect to the possible inherent interference due to a co‐channel deployment in two‐tier architecture with the Macrocell Base Station (MBS) and User Equipments (UEs). In this chapter, the femtocell is analysed as a solution for indoor network coverage problems and local‐convergence demands for indoor network applications. The chapter also focuses on the conventional methods/solutions used today to mitigate interference, which comprises spectrum allocation, power control and antenna approaches. These solutions can be combined with cognitive radio (CR) to introduce a higher degree of interference awareness with respect to the dynamic changes in the wireless environment.

2.1 Introduction

There will be a continuous increase in the demand for wireless spectrum in the foreseeable future with the introduction of Internet multimedia applications such as Facebook, YouTube and multimedia networks to name a few. As a result, there is even more of an increase in demand for the spectrum compared ...