Full-Duplex MIMO Small-Cell Networks with Interference Cancellation

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the potential of full-duplex MIMO small-cell networks to enhance spectral efficiency, analyzing the impact of interference and SI cancellation through stochastic geometry to guide practical deployment.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analytical framework for assessing FD MIMO small-cell networks, including success probability, spectral efficiency, and interference management strategies.

Findings

FD operation can significantly improve network throughput with proper SI cancellation.

Multi-antenna base stations enhance spectral efficiency and interference management.

Optimal balance between signal power and interference cancellation is crucial for FD benefits.

Abstract

Full-duplex (FD) technology is envisaged as a key component for future mobile broadband networks due to its ability to boost the spectral efficiency. FD systems can transmit and receive simultaneously on the same frequency at the expense of residual self-interference (SI) and additional interference to the network compared with half-duplex (HD) transmission. This paper analyzes the performance of wireless networks with FD multi-antenna base stations (BSs) and HD user equipments (UEs) using stochastic geometry. Our analytical results quantify the success probability and the achievable spectral efficiency and indicate the amount of SI cancellation needed for beneficial FD operation. The advantages of multi-antenna BSs/UEs are shown and the performance gains achieved by balancing desired signal power increase and interference cancellation are derived. The proposed framework aims at shedding light on the system-level gains of FD mode with respect to HD mode in terms of network throughput, and provides design guidelines for the practical implementation of FD technology in large small-cell networks.