A QoE-based cell range expansion scheme in heterogeneous cellular networks

Deploying low-power nodes (LPNs) overlaid with Macro cells is a promising strategy to improve the coverage and capacity of cellular systems. Meanwhile, cell range expansion (CRE) scheme is proposed to select a proper serving base station (BS) for users between Macro eNodeBs and LPNs, and then offloading of traffic from Macro cell is made. In this paper, first, we introduce the LPNs deployment strategy and its activation criteria in the heterogeneous system. Then, a quality of experience (QoE)-based CRE scheme to adjust the coverage area of LPNs adaptively is proposed. Different from the existing CRE schemes, the QoE values for different users with different services are considered when the users try to select an appropriate serving BS. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the proposed scheme can improve cell edge user experience for various services as well as overall system performance.