Femtocells: Past, Present, and Future

Femtocells, despite their name, pose a potentially large disruption to the carefully planned cellular networks that now connect a majority of the planet's citizens to the Internet and with each other. Femtocells - which by the end of 2010 already outnumbered traditional base stations and at the time of publication are being deployed at a rate of about five million a year - both enhance and interfere with this network in ways that are not yet well understood. Will femtocells be crucial for offloading data and video from the creaking traditional network? Or will femtocells prove more trouble than they are worth, undermining decades of careful base station deployment with unpredictable interference while delivering only limited gains? Or possibly neither: are femtocells just a "flash in the pan"; an exciting but short-lived stage of network evolution that will be rendered obsolete by improved WiFi offloading, new backhaul regulations and/or pricing, or other unforeseen technological developments? This tutorial article overviews the history of femtocells, demystifies their key aspects, and provides a preview of the next few years, which the authors believe will see a rapid acceleration towards small cell technology. In the course of the article, we also position and introduce the articles that headline this special issue.

[1]  Ana Galindo-Serrano,et al.  From cognition to docition: The teaching radio paradigm for distributed & autonomous deployments , 2010, Comput. Commun..

[2]  Dusit Niyato,et al.  WIRELESS BROADBAND ACCESS: WIMAX AND BEYOND - Integration of WiMAX and WiFi: Optimal Pricing for Bandwidth Sharing , 2007, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[3]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Distributed Antenna Systems with Randomness , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[4]  Sundeep Rangan Femto-macro cellular interference control with subband scheduling and interference cancelation , 2010, 2010 IEEE Globecom Workshops.

[5]  Sampath Rangarajan,et al.  Efficient resource management in OFDMA Femto cells , 2009, MobiHoc '09.

[6]  Sundeep Rangan,et al.  Belief Propagation Methods for Intercell Interference Coordination in Femtocell Networks , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[7]  Jie Zhang,et al.  OFDMA femtocells: A self-organizing approach for frequency assignment , 2009, 2009 IEEE 20th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications.

[8]  Jie Zhang,et al.  Access control mechanisms for femtocells , 2010, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[9]  M. Haenggi,et al.  Interference in Large Wireless Networks , 2009, Found. Trends Netw..

[10]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Modeling and Analysis of K-Tier Downlink Heterogeneous Cellular Networks , 2011, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[11]  Sayandev Mukherjee,et al.  Distribution of Downlink SINR in Heterogeneous Cellular Networks , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[12]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Femtocell networks: a survey , 2008, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[13]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Open vs. Closed Access Femtocells in the Uplink , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[14]  Walid Saad,et al.  Spectrum Leasing as an Incentive Towards Uplink Macrocell and Femtocell Cooperation , 2011, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[15]  Sajal K. Das,et al.  An architecture for next-generation radio access networks , 2005, IEEE Network.

[16]  Hyundong Shin,et al.  Superanalysis of Optimum Combining with Application to Femtocell Networks , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[17]  A.C. Stocker,et al.  Small-cell mobile phone systems , 1984, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology.

[18]  Akhilesh Pokhariyal,et al.  Interference management and performance analysis of UMTS/HSPA+ femtocells , 2009, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[19]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Spectrum allocation in two-tier networks , 2008, 2008 42nd Asilomar Conference on Signals, Systems and Computers.

[20]  Itu-R Tg,et al.  Guidelines for Evaluation of Radio Transmission Technologies for FPLMTS , 1996 .

[21]  Holger Claussen,et al.  An overview of the femtocell concept , 2008, Bell Labs Technical Journal.

[22]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  On the Accuracy of the Wyner Model in Cellular Networks , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[23]  Claude Oestges,et al.  Vision and architecture supporting wireless GBit/sec/km2 capacity density deployments , 2010, 2010 Future Network & Mobile Summit.

[24]  Yongbin Wei,et al.  A survey on 3GPP heterogeneous networks , 2011, IEEE Wireless Communications.

[25]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Analytical Evaluation of Fractional Frequency Reuse for Heterogeneous Cellular Networks , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Communications.

[26]  Michael J. Neely,et al.  Opportunistic Cooperation in Cognitive Femtocell Networks , 2011, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[27]  Lan Wang,et al.  Mobility Management Schemes at Radio Network Layer for LTE Femtocells , 2009, VTC Spring 2009 - IEEE 69th Vehicular Technology Conference.

[28]  Runhua Chen,et al.  From homogeneous to heterogeneous networks: A 3GPP Long Term Evolution rel. 8/9 case study , 2011, 2011 45th Annual Conference on Information Sciences and Systems.

[29]  Donglin Hu,et al.  On Medium Grain Scalable Video Streaming over Femtocell Cognitive Radio Networks , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[30]  Tijani Chahed,et al.  Optimal Control of Wake Up Mechanisms of Femtocells in Heterogeneous Networks , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[31]  Holger Claussen,et al.  Macrocell offloading benefits in joint macro-and femtocell deployments , 2009, 2009 IEEE 20th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications.

[32]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Fundamentals of Lte , 2010 .

[33]  Assen Golaup,et al.  Femtocell access control strategy in UMTS and LTE , 2009, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[34]  Hanif D. Sherali,et al.  Femtocell Base Station Deployment in Commercial Buildings: A Global Optimization Approach , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[35]  Takuro Sato,et al.  Cognitive interference management in 3G femtocells , 2009, 2009 IEEE 20th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications.

[36]  Zhouyue Pi,et al.  An introduction to millimeter-wave mobile broadband systems , 2011, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[37]  Holger Claussen Co-Channel Operation of Macro- and Femtocells in a Hierarchical Cell Structure , 2008, Int. J. Wirel. Inf. Networks.

[38]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Power control in two-tier femtocell networks , 2008, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[39]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Uplink capacity and interference avoidance for two-tier femtocell networks , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[40]  R. Iyer,et al.  Intelligent networking for digital cellular systems and the wireless world , 1990, [Proceedings] GLOBECOM '90: IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference and Exhibition.

[41]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Outage Probability for Heterogeneous Cellular Networks with Biased Cell Association , 2011, 2011 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference - GLOBECOM 2011.

[42]  Farrukh Nagar,et al.  Leveraging Advances in Mobile Broadband Technology to Improve Environmental Sustainability , 2013 .

[43]  Holger Claussen,et al.  Financial Analysis of a Pico-Cellular Home Network Deployment , 2007, 2007 IEEE International Conference on Communications.

[44]  H. Hashemi,et al.  The indoor radio propagation channel , 1993, Proc. IEEE.

[45]  E. H. Drucker Development and application of a cellular repeater , 1988, 38th IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference.

[46]  Aaron D. Wyner,et al.  Shannon-theoretic approach to a Gaussian cellular multiple-access channel , 1994, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory.

[47]  Jie Zhang,et al.  OFDMA femtocells: A roadmap on interference avoidance , 2009, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[48]  Eiko Seidel,et al.  Self-Organizing Networks ( SON ) in 3 GPP Long Term Evolution , 2008 .

[49]  Preben E. Mogensen,et al.  Autonomous Component Carrier Selection for 4G Femtocells — A Fresh Look at an Old Problem , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[50]  Yeong Min Jang,et al.  Soft QoS-based CAC Scheme for WCDMA Femtocell Networks , 2008, 2008 10th International Conference on Advanced Communication Technology.

[51]  Jean C. Walrand,et al.  Economics of Femtocells , 2009, GLOBECOM 2009 - 2009 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference.

[52]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Heterogeneous cellular networks: From theory to practice , 2012, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[53]  Dong-Ho Cho,et al.  The Economic Effects of Sharing Femtocells , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[54]  D. Das,et al.  On the Reverse Link Capacity of a CDMA Network of Femto-cells , 2008, 2008 IEEE Sarnoff Symposium.

[55]  Ismail Güvenç,et al.  Handling CCI and ICI in OFDMA femtocell networks through frequency scheduling , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Consumer Electronics.

[56]  A. Sridharan Broadcast Channels , 2022 .

[57]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  A Tractable Approach to Coverage and Rate in Cellular Networks , 2010, IEEE Transactions on Communications.

[58]  Rui Chang,et al.  Interference coordination and cancellation for 4G networks , 2009, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[59]  Ray C. C. Cheung,et al.  Traffic-Based Study of Femtocell Access Policy Impacts on HSPA Service Quality , 2009, GLOBECOM 2009 - 2009 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference.

[60]  Mark C. Reed,et al.  Outage analysis for WCDMA femtocell with uplink attenuation , 2010, 2010 IEEE Globecom Workshops.

[61]  Robert W. Heath,et al.  Is the PHY layer dead? , 2011, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[62]  E.W. Quinn The cell enhancer , 1986, 36th IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference.

[63]  Sayandev Mukherjee Analysis of UE Outage Probability and Macrocellular Traffic Offloading for WCDMA Macro Network with Femto Overlay under Closed and Open Access , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).

[64]  Tony Q. S. Quek,et al.  Throughput Optimization, Spectrum Allocation, and Access Control in Two-Tier Femtocell Networks , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[65]  Ronny Yongho Kim,et al.  WiMAX femtocell: requirements, challenges, and solutions , 2009, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[66]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Spectrum allocation in tiered cellular networks , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Communications.

[67]  Holger Claussen,et al.  Dynamic idle mode procedures for femtocells , 2010, Bell Labs Technical Journal.

[68]  Gpp 3G Home NodeB Study Item Technical Report , 2008 .

[69]  Holger Claussen,et al.  Femtocell Coverage Optimization Using Switched Multi-Element Antennas , 2009, 2009 IEEE International Conference on Communications.

[70]  Holger Claussen,et al.  Performance of Macro- and Co-Channel Femtocells in a Hierarchical Cell Structure , 2007, 2007 IEEE 18th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications.

[71]  David Choi,et al.  Dealing with Loud Neighbors: The Benefits and Tradeoffs of Adaptive Femtocell Access , 2008, IEEE GLOBECOM 2008 - 2008 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference.

[72]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  A tractable framework for coverage and outage in heterogeneous cellular networks , 2011, 2011 Information Theory and Applications Workshop.

[73]  Venkatesh Ramaswamy,et al.  Multi-Carrier Macrocell Femtocell Deployment-A Reverse Link Capacity Analysis , 2009, 2009 IEEE 70th Vehicular Technology Conference Fall.

[74]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Coverage in multi-antenna two-tier networks , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[75]  Holger Claussen,et al.  Self-optimization of coverage for femtocell deployments , 2008, 2008 Wireless Telecommunications Symposium.

[76]  S. Shamai,et al.  Robust communication against femtocell access failures , 2009, 2009 IEEE Information Theory Workshop.

[77]  Jakob Hoydis,et al.  Green, Cost-effective, Flexible, Small Cell Networks , 2010 .

[78]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Downlink Femtocell Networks: Open or Closed? , 2011, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC).

[79]  Holger Claussen,et al.  Effects of User-Deployed, Co-Channel Femtocells on the Call Drop Probability in a Residential Scenario , 2007, 2007 IEEE 18th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications.

[80]  Mark C. Reed,et al.  On Uplink Interference Scenarios in Two-Tier Macro and Femto Co-Existing UMTS Networks , 2010, EURASIP J. Wirel. Commun. Netw..

[81]  Mehul Motani,et al.  Price-Based Resource Allocation for Spectrum-Sharing Femtocell Networks: A Stackelberg Game Approach , 2012, IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications.

[82]  Preben E. Mogensen,et al.  Autonomous component carrier selection: interference management in local area environments for LTE-advanced , 2009, IEEE Communications Magazine.

[83]  Theodore S. Rappaport,et al.  Urban in-building cellular frequency reuse , 1996, Proceedings of GLOBECOM'96. 1996 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference.

[84]  Lester T. W. Ho,et al.  I, base station: Cognisant robots and future wireless access networks , 2006, CCNC 2006. 2006 3rd IEEE Consumer Communications and Networking Conference, 2006..

[85]  Jong-Gwan Yook,et al.  Interference mitigation using uplink power control for two-tier femtocell networks , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[86]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Analytical Evaluation of Fractional Frequency Reuse for OFDMA Cellular Networks , 2011, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications.

[87]  Marcus Brunner,et al.  User-assisted coverage and interference optimization for broadband femtocells , 2009, 2009 IFIP/IEEE International Symposium on Integrated Network Management-Workshops.

[88]  Robert G. Gallager,et al.  A perspective on multiaccess channels , 1984, IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory.

[89]  P Vetter,et al.  Power Trends in Communication Networks , 2011, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics.

[90]  Giuseppe Caire,et al.  Cognitive femtocells: Breaking the spatial reuse barrier of cellular systems , 2011, 2011 Information Theory and Applications Workshop.

[91]  András Rácz,et al.  Intercell Interference Coordination in OFDMA Networks and in the 3GPP Long Term Evolution System , 2009, J. Commun..

[92]  Jeffrey G. Andrews,et al.  Uplink Capacity and Interference Avoidance for Two-Tier Cellular Networks , 2007, IEEE GLOBECOM 2007 - IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference.