Optimal Relay Placement for Capacity and Performance Improvement using a Fluid Model for Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

TL;DR

This paper proposes an optimal relay placement strategy in heterogeneous wireless networks to maximize capacity, using a fluid interference model and simulated annealing for optimization, demonstrating capacity gains despite interference.

Contribution

It introduces a fluid model-based approach for optimal relay placement considering resource allocation and interference in densified networks, with a practical optimization method.

Findings

Cell capacity increases with densification despite interference.

Bounds are established on resource allocation for BS-RN links.

Simulation results confirm capacity improvements.

Abstract

In this paper, we address the problem of optimal relay placement in a cellular network assuming network densification, with the aim of maximizing cell capacity. In our model, a fraction of radio resources is dedicated to the base-station (BS)/relay nodes (RN) communication. In the remaining resources, BS and RN transmit simultaneously to users. During this phase, the network is densified in the sense that the transmitters density and so network capacity are increased. Intra- and inter-cell interference is taken into account in Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR) simple formulas derived from a fluid model for heterogeneous network. Optimization can then be quickly performed using Simulated Annealing. Performance results show that cell capacity is boosted thanks to densification despite a degradation of the signal quality. Bounds are also provided on the fraction of resources dedicated to the BS-RN link.