Zhang, H., Chu, X., Guo, W. et al. (1 more author) (2015) Coexistence of Wi-Fi and Heterogeneous Small Cell Networks Sharing Unlicensed Spectrum. IEEE Communications Magazine, 53 (3). 158 - 164. ISSN 0163-6804
Abstract
As two major players in terrestrial wireless communications, Wi-Fi systems and cellular networks have different origins and have largely evolved separately. Motivated by the exponentially increasing wireless data demand, cellular networks are evolving towards a heterogeneous and small cell network architecture, wherein small cells are expected to provide very high capacity. However, due to the limited licensed spectrum for cellular networks, any effort to achieve capacity growth through network densification will face the challenge of severe inter-cell interference. In view of this, recent standardization developments have started to consider the opportunities for cellular networks to use the unlicensed spectrum bands, including the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands that are currently used by Wi-Fi, Zigbee and some other communication systems. In this article, we look into the coexistence of Wi-Fi and 4G cellular networks sharing the unlicensed spectrum. We introduce a network architecture where small cells use the same unlicensed spectrum that Wi-Fi systems operate in without affecting the performance of Wi-Fi systems. We present an almost blank subframe (ABS) scheme without priority to mitigate the co-channel interference from small cells to Wi-Fi systems, and propose an interference avoidance scheme based on small cells estimating the density of nearby Wi-Fi access points to facilitate their coexistence while sharing the same unlicensed spectrum. Simulation results show that the proposed network architecture and interference avoidance schemes can significantly increase the capacity of 4G heterogeneous cellular networks while maintaining the service quality of Wi-Fi systems.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 08 Oct 2015 15:48 |
Last Modified: | 25 Mar 2018 02:09 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/MCOM.2015.7060498 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1109/MCOM.2015.7060498 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:85636 |