Decentralized Probabilistic Frequency-Block Activation Control Method of Base Stations for Inter-cell Interference Coordination and Traffic Load Balancing

In this paper, we propose a decentralized probabilistic frequency-block activation control method for the cellular downlink. The aim of the proposed method is to increase the downlink system throughput within the system coverage by adaptively controlling the individual activation of each frequency block at all base stations (BSs) to achieve inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC) and traffic load balancing. The proposed method does not rely on complicated inter-BS cooperation. It uses only the inter-BS information exchange regarding the observed system throughput levels with the neighboring BSs. Based on the shared temporal system throughput information, each BS independently controls online the activation of their respective frequency blocks in a probabilistic manner, which autonomously achieves ICIC and load balancing among BSs. Simulation results show that the proposed method achieves greater system throughput and a faster convergence rate than the conventional online probabilistic activation/deactivation control method. We also show that the proposed method successfully tracks dynamic changes in the user distribution generated due to mobility. key words: heterogeneous networks, probabilistic activation control, transmission power control