A context-aware framework for the efficient integration of femtocells in IP and cellular infrastructures

Abstract

In today's heterogeneous networking (HetNet) environments, where end users are provided with universal connectivity opportunities, femtocell deployments can become key players in the enhancement of critical performance indicators such as capacity, coverage, QoS, etc. In order to confront the up-to-date LTE femtocell challenges, we propose a context-aware framework that provides a controlled environment from the femtocell point of view, which is required for applicable functionality. More specifically, we aim to (a) control the local environment where the femtocell is placed within, by efficiently managing the total incoming traffic load and by continuously adjusting the distribution of the backhaul capacity among the coexisting networks and (b) control the macro-femto interference caused by macrocell users transmitting close to the femtocell by investigating the "femtocell as a relay" concept. Finally, the performance of the proposed framework is evaluated via simulation results showing that the overall performance of a HetNet environment can be leveraged in terms of QoS requirements, energy saving and data rate enhancement. © 2013 Makris et al.