A simulation study on LTE handover and the impact of cell size

Abstract

In this paper we address the impact of cell size on the handover procedure in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. In particular, we highlight the potential problems that may occur when small cell densification is applied. In addition, the impact of the User Equipment (UE) speed is also analyzed. System level simulations are provided using a detailed LTE network simulator accounting for multiple points-of-failure and channel modeling compliant with LTE standards. We conclude that a certain cell size can be found around which any increase or decrease of the cell size brings performance degradations due to different limitations in the uplink. The performance is also degraded as UE speed increases, especially for small cell sizes. And for large cell sizes, we note that low speed UEs handover failures may rise due to the inability to “escape” from a poor radio condition area.