User specific cell clustering to improve mobility robustness in 5G ultra-dense cellular networks

One of the key challenges in very dense cellular network deployments is keeping mobility robustness. Connection dropping and throughput degradation appear significantly when considering vehicle to infrastructure communications. In order to cope with this problem, this paper proposes the use of User Specific and Adaptive Cell Clustering. Each device is served by a different set of cooperative cells that depends on its mobility state. That is to say, the network customizes the cell cluster size separately for each user. This is accomplished by dual connectivity and splitting the data and control planes. The methodology for evaluation is system level simulations considering a realistic mobility model in which user's velocity varies based on the traffic load. Results show network performance enhancements in terms of mobility and throughput. Thus, this technique is an interesting mobility management option in such ultra-dense deployments.