Cache-enabled HetNets With Millimeter Wave Small Cells

TL;DR

This paper analyzes a cache-enabled HetNet with macro sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave pico BSs, introducing new user association strategies, deriving theoretical performance metrics, and demonstrating improved success probability and ASE through simulations.

Contribution

It presents a novel HetNet model with realistic antenna patterns, develops new analytical equations for success probabilities and ASEs, and compares user association strategies.

Findings

HetNet is interference-limited and outperforms traditional HetNets

Optimal rate threshold maximizes ASE

Max-Rate scheme yields higher success probability and ASE

Abstract

In this paper, we consider a novel cache-enabled heterogeneous network (HetNet), where macro base stations (BSs) with traditional sub-6 GHz are overlaid by dense millimeter wave (mmWave) pico BSs. These two-tier BSs, which are modeled as two independent homogeneous Poisson Point Processes, cache multimedia contents following the popularity rank. High-capacity backhauls are utilized between macro BSs and the core server. In contrast to the simplified flat-top antenna pattern analyzed in previous articles, we employ an actual antenna model with the uniform linear array at all mmWave BSs. To evaluate the performance of our system, we introduce two distinctive user association strategies: 1) maximum received power (Max-RP) scheme; and 2) maximum rate (Max-Rate) scheme. With the aid of these two schemes, we deduce new theoretical equations for success probabilities and area spectral efficiencies (ASEs). Considering a special case with practical path loss laws, several closed-form expressions for coverage probabilities are derived to gain several insights. Monte Carlo simulations are presented to verify the analytical conclusions. We show that: 1) the proposed HetNet is an interference-limited system and it outperforms the traditional HetNets in terms of the success probability; 2) there exists an optimal pre-decided rate threshold that contributes to the maximum ASE; and 3) Max-Rate achieves higher success probability and ASE than Max-RP but it needs the extra information of the interference effect.