A Distributed Resource Management Framework for Interference Mitigation in OFDMA Femtocell Networks

Abstract

Next generation wireless networks (i.e., WiMAX, LTE) provide higher bandwidth and spectrum efficiency leveraging smaller (femto) cells with orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA). The uncoordinated, dense deployments of femtocells however, pose several unique challenges relating to interference and resource man- agement in these networks. Towards addressing these challenges, we propose RADION, a distributed resource management frame- work that effectively manages interference across femtocells. RA- DION’s core building blocks enable femtocells to opportunistically find the available resources in a completely distributed and effi- cient manner. Further, RADION’s modular nature paves the way for different resource management solutions to be incorporated in the framework. We implement RADION on a real WiMAX fem- tocell testbed deployed in a typical indoor setting. We extensively evaluate two solutions integrated with RADION, both via prototype implementation and simulations and quantify their performance in terms of quick and efficient self-organization.