Heterogeneous networks with LTE-Advanced technologies

Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are a powerful solution to handle the rapidly increasing demand for mobile broadband bandwidth and are a key concept of Alcatel-Lucent's lightRadioTM strategy. HetNets consist of small cells embedded in a macrocellular network and enable flexible and scalable capacity enhancements. The first part of this paper discusses basic HetNet-specific aspects, e.g., small cell placement and fairness with respect to service quality. We present solutions for cell range expansion of small cells, which enables more user equipment (UEs) to profit from the additional capacity. The second part discusses advanced approaches for interference management optimized for HetNets. We present advanced solutions which exploit the possibilities offered by new Long Term Evolution (LTE)-Advanced features like enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC) and carrier aggregation (CA). We evaluate the performance of these advanced solutions based on standards compliant downlink (DL) system simulations in different application scenarios and provide recommendations on advanced scheduling strategies.