Chapter 24
Picocells, Femtocells and Home eNodeBs
24.1 Introduction
The use of small cells is becoming increasingly important due to their ability to provide increased system capacity compared to a homogeneous network of macrocells.1 Small cells can generally be characterized as either picocells (also referred to as hotzone cells), controlled by a pico eNodeB, or femtocells, controlled by a Home eNB (HeNB).
The definitions of picocells and femtocells are somewhat variable, but typically the main differentiating features can be summarized as follows:
- A pico eNodeB usually controls multiple small cells which are planned by the network operator in a similar way as the macrocells. Picocells are often mounted at low elevation and operate at lower power than the macrocells. A HeNB controls only one cell and is deployed by the customer (the registered owner), usually without planning.
- Femtocells are typically Closed Subscriber Group (CSG) cells accessible only to a limited group of users; in contrast, picocells are usually open to all users (Open Subscriber Group (OSG)) but may offer preferential treatment to some users, e.g. to the staff of a particular establishment.
- The transmission power of femtocells is lower, being designed typically to cover a house or apartment. Picocells usually operate with a higher transmission power to cover an enterprise, mall or other hotzone, or simply to extend macrocellular coverage.
- Femtocells do not necessarily have ...
