Interference Avoidance Concepts

WINNER II D4.7.2 v1.
IST-4-027756 WINNER II
D4.7.2 v1.0
Interference avoidance concepts
Contractual Date of Delivery to the CEC: 30.06.07

Actual Date of Delivery to the CEC: 30.06.07
Editor: Geneviève Mange (ALU)
Authors: Mohammad Abaii, Gunther Auer, Feroz Bokhari, Mugdim Bublin,
Eric Hardouin, Ondrej Hrdlicka, Geneviève Mange, Mahmud Rahman,
Pavol Svac
Participants: ALU, CU/CRC, DoCoMo, FTR&D, SAGO, SAGSK, UniS
Workpackage: WP4 Inter-cell
Estimated person months: 67
Security: PU
Nature: R
Version: 1.0
Total number of pages: 85
Abstract:
This document presents selected inter-cell interference avoidance techniques for the WINNER system,
addressing resource management and partitioning as well as resource allocation and scheduling. These
techniques are assessed by means of computer simulations at system level for the baseline evaluation
scenarios and corresponding recommendations given also for possible combinations with other inter-cell
interference mitigation schemes.
Keyword list:
Inter-cell interference, interference avoidance, frequency re-use, interference coordination, resource
management and partitioning, resource allocation and scheduling
Disclaimer:
Page 1 (85)
WINNER II D4.7.2 v1.0
Executive Summary
The goal of WINNER is to develop a single ubiquitous radio access system adaptable to a wide range of
mobile communication scenarios. The designed system will be based on a single radio access technology with
enhanced capabilities in order to provide users with superior quality wireless access.
Wireless links may experience different kinds of interference such as inter-symbol interference (ISI), multiple
access interference (MAI), and interference from external sources. MAI can be further categorized into intra-
cell and inter-cell interference depending on whether it is generated from own cell or other cells, respectively.
Inter-cell interference mitigation has been identified as a key issue to be investigated in WINNER as it is
directly coupled with achievable re-use of the scarce spectrum. Three main types of inter-cell interference
mitigation techniques have been defined in the WINNER II framework: interference averaging, interference
avoidance and smart antennas based interference mitigation.
This document presents selected techniques for inter-cell interference avoidance which have been classified in
resource management and partitioning on one side, and resource allocation and scheduling on the other side.
Wide area and Metropolitan area scenarios have been investigated, as well as the Local area scenario
considered to an extent as a special case of the Metropolitan area scenario.
The inter-cell interference avoidance techniques have been assessed by means of System Level simulations
taking the WINNER evaluation scenarios, the baseline simulation parameters as well as realistic traffic models
(in some schemes) into account. Common assessment criteria together with other specific performance
indicators are used for the evaluation of the techniques proposed. The possible impact on the WINNER system
architecture as well as the complexity of each method is addressed too. Combinations with interference
averaging techniques and smart antennas based mitigation techniques are also investigated.
The assessment results obtained for each technique together with their potential impacts on the System
Architecture and complexity issues have led to first recommendations for inter-cell avoidance techniques. The
combination with other inter-cell interference mitigation techniques like interference averaging [WIN2D471]
and the use of smart antennas [WIN2D473] has also been considered.
In order to complete the picture for the whole inter-cell interference mitigation further combinations of the
techniques and their refinement have to be addressed; this will be the goal of the work in the remaining phase
of WINNER II.
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Authors
Partner Name Phone / Fax / e-mail
Alcatel-Lucent Germany
Geneviève Mange Phone: +49 711 82141407
Fax: +49 711 82132300
e-mail: genevieve.mange@alcatel-lucent.de
Carleton University /Communication Research Centre (CU/CRC)

Feroz Bokhari Phone: +1-613-520-2600 Ext 1579
Fax: +1-613-520-5727
e-mail: fbokhari@sce.carleton.ca
Mahmudur Rahman Phone: +1-613-520-2600 Ext 1579

Fax: +1-613-520-5727
e-mail: mmrahman@sce.carleton.ca
William Wong Phone: +1-613-990-2977

Fax: +1-613-990-7987
e-mail: william.wong@crc.ca
Halim Yanikomeroglu Phone: Phone: +1-613-520-5734

Fax: +1-613-520-5727
e-mail: halim@sce.carleton.ca
DoCoMo
Gunther Auer Phone: +49 89 56824 219
Fax: +49 89 56824 301
e-mail: auer@docomolab-euro.com
France Telecom (FTR&D)

Eric Hardouin Phone: +33 1 45 29 44 16
Fax: +33 1 45 29 41 94
e-mail: eric.hardouin@orange-ftgroup.com
Siemens AG Austria (SAGO)

Mugdim Bublin Phone: +43 51707 21724
Fax: +43 51707 51933
e-mail: mugdim.bublin@siemens.com
Siemens AG Slovakia (SAGSK)

Ondrej Hrdlicka Phone: +421 2 5968 4639
Fax: +421 2 5968 5409
e-mail: ondrej.hrdlicka@siemens.com
Pavol Svac Phone: +421 2 5968 4663

Fax: +421 2 5968 5409
e-mail: pavol.svac@siemens.com
University of Surrey (UniS)

Mohammad Abaii Phone: +44 1483 68 3609
Fax: +44 1483 68 6011
e-mail: m.abaii@surrey.ac.uk
Page 3 (85)
Table of Contents
List of Acronyms and Abbreviations...............................................................7
1. Introduction ..................................................................................................9
1.1 Background..................................................................................................................................9
1.2 Scope ...........................................................................................................................................9
1.3 Outline .........................................................................................................................................9
2. Overview of inter-cell interference avoidance schemes ........................10

2.1 General description....................................................................................................................10
2.2 Resource management and partitioning.....................................................................................10
2.2.1 Resource management by transmit power restriction schemes .........................................10
2.2.2 Resource partitioning ........................................................................................................11
2.2.2.1 Flexible Re-use Partitioning...................................................................................12
2.2.2.2 Self adaptive Re-use Partitioning...........................................................................12
2.3 Resource allocation and scheduling...........................................................................................12
2.3.1 Dynamic Chunk Allocation using Inter-cell Coordination................................................12
2.3.2 Decentralized Dynamic Channel Allocation for the TDD mode.......................................13
2.3.3 Cost function based scheduling.........................................................................................13
2.3.4 QoS Scheduling with Inter-cell Interference Awareness...................................................13
3. Assessment methodology ........................................................................13

3.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................13
3.2 Basic simulation assumptions used............................................................................................14
3.3 Considered assessment criteria ..................................................................................................14
3.4 Impact on System architecture, measurement, and signalling ...................................................15
3.5 Complexity issues......................................................................................................................16
4. Resource management and partitioning .................................................16

4.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................16
4.2 Resource management by transmit power restriction schemes..................................................17
4.2.1 Description of the considered power restriction schemes .................................................17
4.2.2 Scheduling policies ...........................................................................................................17
4.2.3 Impact on System Architecture, Measurements and Signalling ........................................18
4.2.4 Complexity........................................................................................................................18
4.2.5 Performance assessments ..................................................................................................18
4.2.5.1 IFC through cell-specific transmit power reduction...............................................19
4.2.5.2 Fractional frequency re-use & impact of prioritization schemes ...........................22
4.2.6 Conclusions and recommendations ...................................................................................24
4.3 Resource partitioning.................................................................................................................25
4.3.1 Flexible Re-use Partitioning..............................................................................................26
4.3.1.1 Description.............................................................................................................26
4.3.1.2 Impact on System Architecture, Measurements and Signalling.............................27
4.3.1.3 Complexity.............................................................................................................27
4.3.1.4 Scenario and simulation assumptions ....................................................................28
4.3.1.5 Simulation results...................................................................................................28
4.3.1.6 Assessment.............................................................................................................28
4.3.1.7 Conclusions and recommendations........................................................................29
4.3.2 Self adaptive Re-use Partitioning ......................................................................................29
4.3.2.1 Description.............................................................................................................29
4.3.2.2 Impact on system architecture, measurements and signalling................................30
4.3.2.3 Complexity.............................................................................................................30
4.3.2.4 Simulation Assumptions ........................................................................................30
4.3.2.5 Simulation results...................................................................................................30
4.3.2.6 Recommendations..................................................................................................31
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5. Resource allocation and scheduling........................................................32

5.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................32
5.2 Dynamic downlink chunk allocations using inter-cell coordination..........................................32
5.2.1 Descriptions of the scheme ...............................................................................................32
5.2.2 Impact on system architecture, measurement, and signalling ...........................................34
5.2.3 Complexity Issues .............................................................................................................34
5.2.4 Scenario and simulation assumptions................................................................................34
5.2.5 Simulation results..............................................................................................................34
5.2.6 Conclusions and recommendations ...................................................................................35
5.3 Decentralized Dynamic Channel Allocation .............................................................................35
5.3.1 Description ........................................................................................................................35
5.3.1.1 Properties of the Busy-Tone Concept ....................................................................36
5.3.3 Complexity........................................................................................................................37
5.3.4 Scenarios and Simulation Assumptions ............................................................................37
5.3.5 Simulation Results ............................................................................................................37
5.3.6 Recommendations .............................................................................................................38
5.4 Cost function based scheduling .................................................................................................38
5.4.1 Description ........................................................................................................................38
5.4.3 Complexity........................................................................................................................39
5.4.4 Scenarios ...........................................................................................................................39
5.4.5 Simulations........................................................................................................................40
5.5 QoS Scheduling with Inter-cell Interference Awareness ...........................................................41
5.5.1 Description of Scheme ......................................................................................................41
5.5.2 Impact on Signalling .........................................................................................................41
5.5.3 Complexity........................................................................................................................41
5.5.4 Scenario and Simulation Assumption ...............................................................................41
5.5.5 Results ...............................................................................................................................41
6. Recommendations for inter-cell interference avoidance .......................44
7. Summary and conclusions .......................................................................45
8. References .................................................................................................46
Appendix A. System-level inter-cell interference modelling..................48

A.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................48
A.2 Multi-cell simulation setup ........................................................................................................48
A.2.1 Central cell technique........................................................................................................48
A.2.2 Wrap-around technique .....................................................................................................49
Appendix B. Resource management and partitioning ...........................51

B.1 Resource management by transmit power restriction schemes..................................................51
B.1.1 IFC through cell-specific transmit power reduction..........................................................51
B.1.1.1 Description.............................................................................................................51
B.1.1.2 Simulation assumptions .........................................................................................51
B.1.1.3 Simulation results...................................................................................................52
B.1.1.4 Further investigations.............................................................................................52
B.1.2 Fractional frequency re-use & impact of prioritization schemes.......................................54
B.1.2.1 Bandwidth allocation for the FFR FI and FFR PI schemes....................................54
B.1.2.2 Detailed simulation assumptions............................................................................55
B.1.2.3 Mode of operation of the scheduler .......................................................................56
B.1.2.4 Simulation results...................................................................................................56
B.2 Flexible Re-use Partitioning ......................................................................................................63
B.3 Self Adaptive Re-use Partitioning .............................................................................................63
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Appendix C. Resource allocation and scheduling..................................65

C.1 Dynamic downlink chunk allocations using inter-cell coordination..........................................65
C.1.1 Schematic of the working principle...................................................................................65
C.1.2 Utility Matrix ....................................................................................................................65
C.1.3 Simulation Parameters.......................................................................................................66
C.2 Decentralized Dynamic Channel Allocation for the WINNER TDD mode ..............................66
C.2.1 Busy tone OFDMA ...........................................................................................................68
C.2.1.1 Link initialization...................................................................................................68
C.2.1.2 Dynamic chunk adaptation.....................................................................................69
C.2.2 Properties of the Busy-Tone Concept................................................................................70
C.2.2.1 Self-organized interference management for arbitrary network topologies ...........70
C.2.2.2 Support of TDD uplink-downlink asymmetry ratios .............................................70
C.2.2.3 Network synchronization .......................................................................................72
C.2.2.4 Intra-cell scheduling...............................................................................................72
C.2.2.5 Support of low-rate (protected) feedback mechanism for link adaptation .............72
C.2.2.6 Cognitive radio networks .......................................................................................73
C.2.2.7 Application of BT-OFDMA to MIMO and SDMA ...............................................73
C.2.3 Performance evaluation for MA Manhattan Grid deployment scenario............................74
C.2.4 Performance evaluation for LA peer-to-peer network.......................................................77
C.3 QoS scheduling with inter-cell interference awareness .............................................................80
C.3.1 Description ........................................................................................................................80
C.3.2 Simulation setup................................................................................................................81
C.3.3 Simulation Parameters.......................................................................................................82
C.3.4 Further Results ..................................................................................................................82
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List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

3G Third Generation
4G Fourth Generation
AC Admission Control
AF Activity Factor
AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise
BCH Broadcast Channel
BCQI Best CQI
BER Bit Error Rate
B-EFDMA Block-Equidistant Frequency Division Multiple Access
B-LDPC Block Low Density Parity Check
BLER Block Error Rate
BPSK Binary Phase Shift Keying
BS Base Station
BT-DCA Busy-Tone DCA
BT-OFDMA Busy-Tone OFDMA
CDF Cumulative Distribution Function
CFBS Cost Function Based Scheduling
CQI Channel Quality Indicator
CSI Channel State Information
DCA Dynamic Channel Allocation
DG Duplex Guard
DL Downlink
E2E End-to-End
FDD Frequency Division Duplex
FEC Forward Error Correction
FFR Fractional Frequency Re-use
FFR FI FFR with Full Isolation
FFR PI FFR with Partial Isolation
FRP Flexible Re-use Partitioning
GoB Grid of Beams
GPS Global Positioning System
HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request
HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol
IFC InterFerence Coordination
IRC Interference Rejection Combining
IRP Interrupted Renewal Process
ISARP Interference-based SARP
LA Local Area
LOS (LoS) Line-of-Sight
LT Long Term
MA Metropolitan Area
MAC Medium Access Control
MCS Modulation and Coding Scheme
MIDCA Minimum Interference DCA
MIMO Multiple-Input Multiple-Output
MRC Maximum Ratio Combining
MU-MIMO Multi-user MIMO
NLOS (NLoS) Non Line-of-Sight
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NTP Network Timing Protocol

O&M Operation and Maintenance
OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access
P2P Peer-to-Peer
PF Proportional Fair
PSU Percentage of Satisfied Users
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
QoS Quality of Service
QPSK Quadrature Phase Shift Keying
R3SARP Re-use 3 SARP
RAN Radio Access Network
RDCA Random DCA
REC Relay Enhanced Cell
RLC Radio Link Control
RN Relay Node
RRC Radio Resource Control
RRM Radio Resource Management
RSARP Random SARP
RU Resource Unit
Rx Receiver
SARP Self-Adaptive Re-use Partitioning
SB Score Based
SDMA Spatial Division Multiple Access
SINR Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio
SISO Single-Input Single-Output
ST Short Term
TBFQ Token Bank Fair Queuing
TDD Time Division Duplex
Tx Transmitter
UL Uplink
UT User Terminal
VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol
WA Wide Area
WINNER Wireless World Initiative New Radio
Page 8 (85)
1. Introduction
1.1 Background
The goal of WINNER is to develop a single ubiquitous radio access system adaptable to a wide range of
mobile communication scenarios. The designed system will be based on a single radio access technology with
enhanced capabilities in order to provide users with superior quality wireless access. The radio interface should
also be efficient - both spectrally and in cost of deployment. One way to improve spectrum efficiency and limit
deployment costs is to create a radio interface which is inherently robust to interference.
Wireless links may experience different kinds of interference such as inter-symbol interference (ISI), multiple
access interference (MAI), and interference from external sources. MAI can be further categorized into intra-
cell and inter-cell interference depending on whether it is generated from own cell or other cells, respectively.
Inter-cell interference mitigation has been identified as a key issue to be investigated in WINNER as it is
directly coupled with achievable re-use of the scarce spectrum. The main objectives of such investigations are
as follows:
N To develop optimal interference avoidance and rejection strategies for the system to support universal
coverage based on the refined air interface proposal in WINNER II.
N To investigate and assess methods for coping with inter-cell interference in order to be able to offer a
high and reliable Quality of Service especially at the cell borders and under high traffic load
conditions.
The investigations should focus on the scenarios where the interference level is limitative for the coverage.
This implies that mostly the wide area and metropolitan area deployment scenarios are important to be
considered. The ultimate goal is to achieve high system capacity using an optimal effective frequency re-use
factor. Three main types of inter-cell interference mitigation techniques have been defined in the WINNER II
framework as listed below:
N Inter-cell interference averaging

N Inter-cell interference avoidance
N Inter-cell interference mitigation using smart antennas
This document presents selected techniques for inter-cell interference avoidance. Proposed methods with and
without inter-cell coordination are examined and validated by computer simulations. Wide area and
Metropolitan area scenarios have been investigated, as well as the Local area scenario considered to an extent
as a special case of the Metropolitan area scenario. Inter-cell interference averaging and interference
mitigation using smart antennas have been investigated in [WIN2D471] and [WIN2D473], respectively.
1.2 Scope
The proposed inter-cell interference avoidance techniques are assessed by means of System Level simulations
taking the WINNER evaluation scenarios [WIN2D6131] , the baseline simulation parameters [WIN2D6137] as
well as realistic traffic models (in some schemes) into account. Common assessment criteria together with
other specific performance indicators are used for the evaluation of the techniques proposed. The possible
impact on the WINNER system architecture and functionality [WIN2D6138] as well as the complexity of each
method are addressed too.
1.3 Outline
The document is organized as follows:
Chapter 2 gives an overview of the classification chosen for the selected inter-cell interference avoidance
techniques which will be investigated; each technique is then described in more detail.
Chapter 3 presents the assessment methodology followed in this work, like evaluation scenarios, common
assessment criteria and inter-cell interference modelling methods for system-level simulators. In addition, the
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most relevant aspects of the System and Protocol Architecture are addressed as well as guidelines for the
complexity evaluation.
Chapters 4 and 5 contain the mains results obtained for each avoidance technique according to the assessment
methodology described in chapter 3. Combinations with interference averaging techniques [WIN2D471] and
smart antennas based mitigation techniques [WIN2D473] are also investigated.
Chapter 6 recapitulates the outcomes of the investigations and provides recommendations for inter-cell
interference avoidance, addressing also possible combinations of interference mitigation techniques.
Chapter 7 finally gives a summary of the document contents and conclusions.
In addition, methods for system level interference modelling as well as further detailed results on the
investigated interference avoidance techniques can be found in the appendices.
2. Overview of inter-cell interference avoidance schemes
2.1 General description

In this section the selected inter-cell interference avoidance techniques will be introduced and described in
more details by their main characteristics and their possible flavours.
In general inter-cell-interference avoidance techniques for the downlink are based on restrictions or specific
allocation schemes applied to the resources available for transmission towards the UTs. They usually apply in a
coordinated way between cells so that inter-cell interference avoidance is often mentioned together with inter-
cell interference co-ordination. .
In our work we have used the following classification for the avoidance techniques investigated:
N Resource management and partitioning
N Resource allocation and scheduling
To the first type belong techniques based on restrictions on the transmit power over the resources where pre-
defined frequency re-use schemes apply as well as techniques for flexible or even self-adaptive re-use
partitioning where the frequency re-use itself varies inside the cells.
The second type of techniques take intrinsically a frequency re-use value of 1 into account; dynamic chunk
allocation using cell coordination is one of them, decentralized dynamic channel allocation for the TDD mode
a further one. Scheduling schemes based on a Cost function or QoS Provisioning and aware of inter-cell
interference are considered here as well.
Furthermore three types of co-ordination may apply:

N Static co-ordination: reconfiguration of the restrictions is done on a time scale corresponding to days.
The inter-node communication is very limited then since it corresponds only to the set up of
restrictions
N Semi-static co-ordination: reconfiguration of the restrictions is done on a time scale corresponding to
seconds or longer. The corresponding signalling rate is generally in the order of tens of seconds to
minutes.
N Dynamic interference co-ordination: in that case the time scale usually correspond to several tens to
hundreds of milliseconds and so the signalling rate
Following sections contain further detailed descriptions of each investigated schemes by addressing their most
important characteristics alongside the classification chosen.
2.2 Resource management and partitioning

In this section selected techniques for inter-cell interference avoidance building on resource management as
well as on resource partitioning are presented together with different kinds of schemes.
2.2.1 Resource management by transmit power restriction schemes
The inter-cell interference avoidance technique considered here is based on static co-ordination between the
neighbouring cells by means of power restrictions in pre-defined frequency subsets. Several schemes for the
definition of these restrictions among the available frequency resources are proposed.
One scheme allows each cell to transmit in the whole frequency band where a specific subset is reduced in
power while the remaining ones use equally full power. The definition of these reduced frequency subsets
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follows a frequency re-use scheme which determines the subset of resources restricted in each cell taking its
position among its neighbours into account. This scheme allows keeping the inter-cell interference at a low
level while still using all available frequency resources for the transmission; it can also be called soft frequency
re-use scheme. Increasing the re-use value leads to restrict the transmit power in a lower portion of the
resources like e.g. for the case of soft frequency re-use 7/6 it is 1/7 of the bandwidth available which is reduced
in power.
Another family of schemes typically involve a sub-band commonly used by all the cells (i.e. with a frequency
re-use of 1) with equal power, while the power allocation of the remaining sub-bands is coordinated among the
neighbouring cells in order to create one sub-band with a lower inter-cell interference level in each cell. This
particular sub-band is called the cell-edge sub-band in the following. Several transmit power allocation
strategies are possible, leading to Fractional Frequency Re-use (FFR) schemes with different frequency re-use
factors in the various sub-bands, either with full power isolation between the sub-bands of adjacent cells, or
partial isolation only. The full transmit power isolation means the cells are not allowed to transmit on the cell-
edge sub-band of their neighbours, which totally suppresses the inter-cell interference from the neighbouring
cells at the expense of a reduction of the amount of available resources. The partial isolation achieves a trade-
off between inter-cell interference mitigation and loss of frequency resource by allowing the neighbouring cells
to use the cell-edge sub-band of a given cell, but with a lower power level in order to keep inter-cell
interference low.
The feedback necessary from the UTs to support the resource allocation performed by the scheduler depends
on the adopted power allocation strategy: it can be either the indication of which interfering base stations are
strongly received and which is the strongest, or the average SINR (or CQI) measured over the whole
bandwidth. In both cases, neither additional measurement nor signalling is required compared to the normal
mode of operation of WINNER: the interferers' identification and reporting are known from classical handover
algorithms, it is just necessary that the base station number identifies the inhibited frequency sub-bands.
Similarly, the CQI reporting is required for the link adaptation.
We consider here a static resource management scheme where the power and bandwidth of each sub-band
inside the whole frequency domain are re-configured on a time scale corresponding to days by Network
Planning. In addition different scheduling policies are investigated in order to prioritize the cell-edge UTs in
the sub-bands with enhanced channel conditions.
2.2.2 Resource partitioning

There are several functions in different layers of the WINNER system architecture which have significant
impact on the overall spectral efficiency and resource utilization. Among them are the functions dealing with
spectrum assignment, resource partitioning, load balancing and resource allocation. The operation time scale of
these functions is also very important. The currently defined alignment on time scale and sequence of events in
the spectrum assignment and resource partitioning in WINNER II for these semi-static and dynamic processes
is as follows:
On the highest level in the chain of events [WIN2D6138], comes the Long-Term (LT) spectrum assignment.
As the name suggests, it is responsible for allocating the spectrum on a long-term basis between overlapping
WINNER networks. This LT spectrum assignment is not expected to be changed very often. It is foreseen that
the operation time scale of LT spectrum assignment is in the order of several minutes.
The next step is Inter-RAN load balancing [WIN2D482] which takes place to balance the load among
overlapping WINNER networks within their existing available spectrum. This function operates in the order of
several seconds.
Short-Term (ST) spectrum assignment re-adjusts the available spectral resources between overlapping
WINNER networks from a shared resource pool on a temporary basis with faster time scale. As a result of
resource negotiation between the operators, a portion of shared WINNER spectrum will be dedicated to each
network for duration of about five hundred milliseconds. Although it is called short-term, this is larger time
scale when compared with inter-cell resource partitioning within a RAN.
Inter-cell resource partitioning together with inter-cell load balancing tries to maximize the spectral efficiency
without changing the available spectrum. The time scale of inter-cell resource partitioning is in the order of 100
milliseconds to allow the interference chain effect in neighbouring cells to settle down before triggering ST
spectrum assignment. In other words, this function tries to efficiently distribute the available network spectrum
among cells taking into account the inter-cell interference situation as well as the load distribution across the
network.
Finally, resource partitioning in a Relay Enhanced Cell (REC) which is referred to as intra-cell partitioning, has
to be carried out every super frame (approx. 6 ms). This is the minimum time scale in resource partitioning and
the lowest in the chain of events. Partitioning between BS and RNs within a REC as well as partitioning the
resources between adaptive and non-adaptive flows are both considered here as part of intra-cell partitioning.
By resource partitioning in the rest of this section we mean inter-cell resource partitioning only.
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Two different kind of schemes are addressed: Flexible Re-use Partitioning and Self Adaptive Re-use
Partitioning.
2.2.2.1 Flexible Re-use Partitioning
From a cell point of view, Flexible Re-use Partitioning (FRP) is a method which implements different re-use
zones per cell i.e. which divides the cell coverage area into concentric zones with different re-use factors based
on the received Broadcast Channel (BCH) level. A “cell” is recognized by its BCH geographical coverage area
[WIN2D6138]. The inner zone in each cell is re-use 1 zone and therefore will be exempted from resource
partitioning restrictions. The simplest yet promising form of implementing FRP is to divide the cell into inner
(re-use 1) and outer (e.g. re-use 3) zones.
At network planning stage, re-use resources are defined and set for the outer zones in the individual cells. This
is a one-time process to make the base stations aware of their partitions per zone before hand and there are no
further updates or signalling required in that sense. UTs in each zone will be identified, grouped, and scheduled
accordingly.
Threshold values for the received BCH level can be updated due to load balancing and/or interference
management commands as follows:
Load balancing can take place by mutual negotiations between base stations. This method can be implemented
in three steps: in the first step, each base station adjusts its re-use zones individually according to its cell load
without coordinating with other cells. In this case, no signalling is required. In the second step, co-ordination
between neighbouring base stations takes place to adjust re-use zones mutually. In this case request signal will
be sent to neighbouring cells.
Finally, in case the situation did not improve or if there are conflicting requests, then a more central controlling
approach takes place which enforces the updated thresholds based on its knowledge of relative load and
resources in each cell. The additional signalling needed corresponds to the threshold values for different re-use
zones in each cell.
2.2.2.2 Self adaptive Re-use Partitioning

An interference avoidance technique exploiting a priority based partitioning of the chunks available to a given
cell has been studied as well. The chunk priorities are evaluated independently by the individual cells, taking
into account the inter-cell interference situation along with a re-use factor (1 or 3 at the cell edge zone, 1
elsewhere); hence, the technique is called Self Adaptive Re-use Partitioning (SARP). Modifications in priority
calculation allow for designing several partitioning schemes that operate in a static or dynamic fashion and
differ in signalization overhead, complexity and efficiency.
2.3 Resource allocation and scheduling

This section addressed the selected inter-cell interference avoidance techniques based on specific schemes for
resource allocation as well as for resource scheduling.
2.3.1 Dynamic Chunk Allocation using Inter-cell Coordination
While UTs at the sector edge suffer from high inter-sector interference, UTs at the cell edge experience higher
path-losses in addition to inter-cell interference. Consequently, these cell edge UTs are expected to have more
poor-quality chunks. Any scheduling scheme that aims to achieve maximized sector throughput tends to
overlook such UTs as they are less attractive to contribute to the aggregate throughput. Therefore, avoiding
inter-cell interference is crucial to offer better data rates to these disadvantaged UTs. For this purpose a
technique based on Dynamic Chunk allocation using Inter-Cell Coordination has been investigated for the
WINNER Wide Area scenario in the downlink.
The proposed scheme sub-optimally finds a set of chunks to be restricted in each sector depending on mutual
interference situations and UT data rate requirements. These chunk restriction lists are refreshed on a time-
scale which is less than the channel coherence time. The scheme is comprised of separate algorithms residing
at each sector and at a central controller. Based on the received interference from neighbouring sectors as well
as UT data rate requirements, each sector prepares a tentative list of chunks to be restricted at the neighbouring
sectors determined by its algorithm, and sends a corresponding restriction request to the central controller. The
central controller gathers all such requests from all involved sectors and prepares final chunk restriction lists
for all sectors using its own algorithm. This results in a dynamic re-use factor for each chunk.
Once the chunk restriction list is available to the sector, it is up to the scheduler to schedule the eligible chunks
with its criteria; i.e., scheduling is considered to be independent of the dynamic coordination scheme. In the
studied scheme a scheduler based on the iterative Hungarian (Munkres) algorithm that achieves maximized
throughput with UT data rate constraints is used.
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2.3.2 Decentralized Dynamic Channel Allocation for the TDD mode

Additionally we apply a decentralized MAC protocol to dynamic and interference aware chunk selection for
the WINNER TDD mode. The proposed scheme enables the transmitter to determine the level of interference it
would cause to already active links prior to any transmission. This is achieved through a busy-slot signalling
that exploits the channel reciprocity offered by the TDD mode. The busy signal concept is implemented by a
time-multiplexed feedback channel that also establishes a low-rate feedback link. The interference awareness
allows the system to avoid inter-cell interference and to operate with full frequency re-use, and is able to
support different UL-DL asymmetry ratios.
Due to its decentralized nature, the algorithm can be utilized in both cellular and multi-hop networks. Further
applications include the peer-to-peer (P2P) communications within the WINNER system, and dynamic
spectrum assignment for a multiple operator scenario, where the WINNER system is deployed in license
exempt spectrum. For performance evaluation simulations are conducted for the metropolitan area (MA) with a
regular grid of buildings, as well as a local area (LA) peer-to-peer network.
2.3.3 Cost function based scheduling

We propose furthermore the adaptive Cost Function based Scheduler for resource allocation. This scheduler is
generic enough to build well-known algorithms like Round Robin, Proportional Fair and Best CQI Scheduler
as special cases. But the general adaptive Cost Function based Scheduler achieves significantly better results
regarding satisfied users/throughput trade-offs than any of these well-known algorithms. Furthermore, we
provide an algorithm for automatic update of the scheduler parameters according to specific cell/system
statistics. Although it is theoretically possible to set for all environments, services and load conditions the
“optimal” parameters via O&M, this would require high time delay and computational effort. Thus, the
proposed algorithm brings significant cost saving for network operators and is a step further in providing
“always the best” scheduling in WINNER.
2.3.4 QoS Scheduling with Inter-cell Interference Awareness

Scheduling in wireless networks is a two-fold problem. It can be split into two levels, i.e.
N Scheduling with QoS Provisioning
N Scheduling with Channel Feedback
Token Bank Fair Queuing (TBFQ) algorithm is the proposed algorithm for the first level of scheduling. It takes
into account priorities, interflow fairness and delay constraints. These are QoS attributes which are provided by
the higher RLC layer. By selecting the UTs in a certain prioritised manner, we can make sure that flows
belonging to UTs suffering from bad interference conditions and shadowing in particular will have a higher
priority. The TBFQ algorithm was designed to accommodate the bursty nature of traffic. This is done by the
graceful acceptance of traffic profile violation when exceeding bandwidth is available, provided the session
does not exceed its bandwidth allocation in the long term. This prevents sudden degradation of QoS
experienced by the end user as a result of traffic profile violations.
The second level of scheduling is to achieve with resource allocation. At the start of every scheduling instant,
Channel Feedback is required from every UT for every chunk. Based on the decisions made in the first level of
scheduling with QoS provisioning, appropriate resources are assigned to the selected UTs taking into account
the Channel Feedback. The Maximum SINR method is used at this second scheduling level where the best
chunk is allocated to the selected UT.
The proposed scheduling algorithm is tested in the presence of 1st tier of interferers. The performance is
compared to that of the Score based algorithm. QoS issues in terms of throughput, packet drop ratios and
queuing delays are addressed.
3. Assessment methodology
3.1 Introduction
This chapter contains the different aspects of the assessment methodology followed by the evaluation of the
inter-cell interference avoidance techniques described in the previous chapter. First the basic assumptions made
for the investigations concern the WINNER II evaluation scenarios as well as the models and methods used for
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the System Level simulations themselves. The description of the common assessment criteria used and their
specific purpose is then detailed. The way the schemes studied may impact or be related to the WINNER II
System Architecture including Measurements and Signalling is shown as well as their complexity itself being a
further important aspect for the assessment.
3.2 Basic simulation assumptions used

In general, simulation parameters and assumptions considered for different proposed interference avoidance
schemes are based on the baseline design defined in [WIN2D6137]. Depending on the objectives of the
investigations, minor deviations from baseline parameters have been made in some studies mainly in order to
reduce simulation complexity. However, these deviations do not affect the findings and conclusions of the
investigations.
The scope of the investigations reported in this deliverable covers all three WINNER test scenarios, i.e. the
base coverage urban, the microcellular, and the indoor scenarios [WIN2D6137]. The FDD physical layer mode
is used for the base coverage urban scenario, while TDD mode is used for the microcellular and indoor
scenarios. The emphasis is given to downlink interference avoidance for the studies involving base coverage
urban FDD scenario. Both downlink and uplink are investigated in the schemes proposed for microcellular and
indoor scenarios. According to deployment specific baseline parameters [WIND6137], inter-site distance of 1
km is used for base coverage urban (macro-cellular) FDD scenario and ‘Manhattan grid’ with defined building
and street dimensions is considered for microcellular TDD scenario.
While full-buffer traffic model is assumed mostly as defined in the baseline design, in order to obtain realistic
queue and delay statistics, realistic traffic models for VoIP, streaming video, FTP etc are implemented in some
investigated schemes. The detailed descriptions of various traffic models can be found in Appendix A in
[WIN2D6137].
For modelling inter-cell interference at system level, both central cell and wrap-around techniques are used. In
the central cell technique, the system statistics are collected only in the central part of the simulated multi-cell
layout. Wrap-around technique is well known to be an effective way of emulating much larger number of cells
than what is actually simulated. In this technique, UTs can be placed in all cells from where statistics can be
gathered. The details on both methods are provided in Appendix A.2.
Based on the performance parameters to be observed for different proposed schemes, both Class II and III
simulators are used [WIN2D6131] [WIN2D6137]. Class II and III are system level simulators defined to
capture dynamic and quasi-static aspects of the system behaviour, respectively.
3.3 Considered assessment criteria

The interference avoidance schemes studied are all investigated at the system level but never the less vary
greatly in scope as the base coverage urban scenario is considered in most of the cases but microcellular and
indoor scenarios as well. Furthermore, they also differ in the design issues relating to interference modelling,
traffic modelling, and scheduling algorithms. As a result, they do not face the same challenges and thus
evaluation criteria may vary from one case to another. Therefore it becomes necessary to identify the common
criteria which show the performance as well as the technical interpretations of the relevant requirements stated
in [WIN2D6111].
In [WIN2D6137], a refined list of assessment criteria is provided. It has been agreed for our work to define
mandatory and optional criteria for performance evaluation from this list. The mandatory criteria are:
N CDF of the user throughput
N CDF of the (chunk) SINR
N The average sector throughput
CDF of user throughput seems to be the most important one, because it can be used for deriving the standard
performance measure criteria like fairness, average throughput and spectrum efficiency as well as the cell edge
user throughput considering a defined percentile value.
The gain of interference avoidance techniques which are the focus of our investigations can be sometimes
directly read from the CDF of SINR: e.g., gain in mean SINR, decreasing the percentage of UTs having SINR
below certain threshold etc. The SINR measure is defined as the SINR after receiver processing but prior to
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decoding and for both the frequency adaptive and the non adaptive modes represents the average channel
quality on the scheduled resources.
Since networks’ providers are often interested in maximizing average performance per cell or sector, the
average cell/sector throughput is also an important performance criterion.
Delay distribution is also an important performance criterion for E2E evaluations, since delay experienced by a
user has a great impact on user’s satisfaction, especially in the case of real-time services.
Delay is defined in [WIN2D6137] as follows:
N Packet delay is the time interval from when the packet enters the transmission queue to when the
packet is received successfully. If a packet is not successfully delivered by the end of a simulation
run, none of the information bits of the packet shall be counted.
N Packet call delay is the time interval from when the first packet of a packet call enters the transmission
queue to when the last packet of the packet call is received successfully. If a packet call is not
successfully delivered by the end of a simulation run, the packet call shall not be counted in the
performance statistics.
However, it must be taken into account that:
N The packet delay criterion is not applicable to the full queue traffic model
The packet call delay criterion may not be easily applicable in class III simulators, where only a fraction of the
packet call is generally considered. Note this depends actually on the traffic model. For an HTTP traffic model,
the packet call represents the download of one web page (made up of several packets), whose duration (less
than 1 second) can be encompassed in one snapshot. However, considering the mean reading time of 30
seconds, it is likely that one snapshot will not be able to capture one complete packet call for each UT, except
at the price of very long simulation durations (note that the discussion about traffic models for class III
simulators is still open in [WIN2D6137]).
That is why the delay criterion may not be the most relevant for our investigations compared to, e.g., the cell or
sector and user throughput. On the other hand, CDF of the delay is important for scheduling investigations,
since scheduling can make a trade-off between throughput and delay. Therefore in the case of scheduling
simulations we need also delay CDF along with throughput CDF to evaluate the performance. Furthermore,
delay could be indirectly estimated from SINR CDF, which is an important performance criterion for us as
discussed above.
Performance of the studied schemes based on the assessment criteria will also be sensitive to the overall design
and assumptions related to environment and deployment. For instance, the performance of an interference
avoidance scheme may depend on the resource management/scheduling strategy used. Accordingly, when
analyzing the performance of a specific strategy, the other assumptions should be well described and the
impact of changing these other strategies/assumptions should be investigated as far as possible.
3.4 Impact on System architecture, measurement, and signalling

Further assessment of the schemes investigated will consider their possible impacts on the WINNER II System
Concept which is currently described in [WIN2D6138]. The main relevant aspects concern the System
Architecture i.e. the Network elements and/or Logical Nodes as well as the mapping of the System
functionalities to them, the inter-communication between Logical Nodes and the architectural options aiming
e.g. for centralized vs. distributed architecture. Furthermore additional Measurements and Signalling possibly
needed by the investigated schemes will also impact the Protocol Architecture: at PHY layer itself, but also
MAC layer and even the upper layers in some cases.
In the following the characteristics of the WINNER System and Protocol Architecture most relevant for our
purpose are summarized in order to give the range of the assessment of the inter-cell interference avoidance
techniques.
The Logical Nodes (LNs) building the WINNER II System architecture are: GWLN nodes, BSLN nodes, RNLN
nodes and UTLN nodes and optionally RRMserverLN. They correspond to Network Elements as such but
describe their functionalities and interfaces in a generic way independently from possible implementations in
future networks. The most relevant LNs for the assessment to be conducted for our purpose will be the BSs
and UTs and the communication among them; but the RNs may be concerned as well when indicating whether
a specific interference avoidance scheme may be applied to the Relaying concepts in WINNER II. The
optional RRM server will come into the discussion when the need for a centralized architecture rather than a
distributed one is identified.
The Protocol Architecture is defined for the User Plane and the Control Plane comprising the lower layers
PHY, MAC and RLC as well as RRC for the later case. The investigated schemes will be mostly related to the
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PHY and MAC layers esp. concerning scheduling together with the constraint processing but some of them
will also address the RRC layer when e.g. its resource partitioning function is considered.
3.5 Complexity issues

Complexity of the techniques proposed has to be evaluated as well, being a crucial assessment criteria esp.
when the Network Element(s) or Logical Nodes where the required functionality resides are impacted but also
when the overall System functionality is concerned. Complexity can be considered e.g. in terms of impacts on
software/hardware implementation, time constraints, system capacity, network management, … For example
algorithm complexity is measured by the number of operations and the required memory size for processing
the algorithm and will therefore impact the complexity of the target hardware as such. This is crucial when
considering for example the implementation of an algorithm at UT side in the realization of an avoidance
method. On the other hand algorithm implementations at the Base Station are usually less critical.
Another aspect is the complexity impact to the network infrastructure. Within the network a new setup or
planning may be needed to enable the interference avoidance technique envisaged, which require additional
resources.
4. Resource management and partitioning
4.1 Introduction
This chapter is devoted to inter-cell interference avoidance techniques based on resource management and
inter-cell resource partitioning. These techniques typically adjust the re-use factor of the resources across
neighbouring cells in order to manage the level of inter-cell interference. Inter-cell resource partitioning
implies sharing a common set of resources among different cells. One of the advantages of OFDMA is the
ability to perform the frequency resource partitioning in a fractional way, by sharing exclusively only a fraction
of the spectrum between neighbouring cells, the remaining spectrum being reused in all cells simultaneously.
Another way to manage interference is to coordinate the transmit power of neighbouring cells on defined sub-
bands (or frequency subsets if the concerned subcarriers are not co localized), in order to create sub-bands with
lower inter-cell interference levels. Note the boundary between frequency resource partitioning and
interference management through transmit power restrictions in frequency is not strict, since using the latter
with null power settings on some sub-bands leads to effective frequency resource partitioning. On the other
hand, transmit power restrictions can be seen as a kind of resource partitioning, where the partitioned resource
is the transmit power.
Resource management and inter-cell resource partitioning can be either static, where the resource allocation
across neighbouring cells remains fixed over time, or dynamic in order to adapt to the load variations in the
neighbouring cells. In the latter case, inter-cell resource partitioning together with inter-cell load balancing tries
to maximize the spectral efficiency without changing the available spectrum assignment, in order to make sure
that the most has been made from the available spectrum before requesting more from the higher layers of the
WINNER architecture (see Section 4.3 for an overview of the various steps involved in the WINNER spectrum
assignment, and how inter-cell resource partitioning interacts with it). Both the static and dynamic approaches
are addressed in this chapter.
Relays have not been considered as such in this deliverable, although most of the techniques considered (if not
all) should be applicable in the context of relay-enhanced cells [WIN2D352].
The remainder of this chapter is organised as follows: Section 4.2 investigates static resource management by
means of transmit power restriction schemes, as well as different scheduling policies accounting for the
transmit power restrictions. Note although the power allocations are static, their performance assessments
presented in this section provide insights into the performance dynamic schemes would achieve when
(temporary) matching the same settings. Section 4.3 addresses resource partitioning schemes that can be
implemented either in a static or a dynamic way. Flexible re-use partitioning is proposed in Section 4.3.1 as a
method to allow fast load balancing between neighbouring cells on top of inter-cell interference mitigation.
Section 4.3.2 proposes self adaptive re-use partitioning, which exploits a priority-based partitioning of the
chunks available to a given cell, the modifications in the priorities calculation leading to different partitioning
schemes that operate in a static or dynamic fashion.
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4.2 Resource management by transmit power restriction schemes
4.2.1 Description of the considered power restriction schemes

This section investigates inter-cell coordination schemes using static power restrictions in the frequency
domain in pre-defined frequency sub-sets. The definition of these frequency sub-sets follows a frequency re-
use scheme which then determines the subset of resources restricted for each cell in a coordinated way with its
neighbours. The aim of these coordinated power restrictions is to create particular frequency subsets with
enhanced average channel conditions, which will then be assigned to the cell-edge UTs in order to improve
their SINR. Various types of power restrictions can be applied [R1060864], [R1062365]. Here we study two
families of transmit power restriction schemes.
In the first family, each cell uses the whole frequency band but a specific subset is reduced in power according
to a specific frequency re-use scheme, the remaining ones using equally full power [R1050272]. At the cell-
edge, UTs are assigned the subsets with reduced power of their strongest interfering base station. This scheme
allows keeping the inter-cell interference at a low level while still using all available frequency resources for
the transmission; it can also be called soft frequency re-use scheme. Increasing the re-use value leads to restrict
the transmit power in a lower portion of the resources like e.g. for the case of soft frequency re-use 7/6 it is 1/7
of the bandwidth available which is reduced in power. Figure B-1 in Appendix B.1.1 illustrates this concept.
This latter method will be referred to in the following as Interference Coordination (IFC) through cell-specific
transmit power reduction.
The other family of schemes is Fractional Frequency Re-use (FFR), which typically involves a sub-band
commonly used by all cells (i.e. with a frequency re-use of 1) with equal power, while the power allocation of
the remaining sub-bands is coordinated among the neighbouring cells in order to create one sub-band with a
lower inter-cell interference level in each cell. This particular band is called the cell-edge band in the
following. FFR schemes can be further subdivided into FFR with full transmit power isolation (FFR FI) and
FFR with partial isolation only (FFR PI).
The full power isolation means the cells are not allowed to transmit on the cell-edge sub-band of their
neighbours, which suppresses inter-cell interference from the neighbouring cells in the cell-edge sub-bands at
the expense of a reduction of the amount of available resources (see Figure B-4 in Appendix B.1.2).
With partial power isolation, all the system bandwidth is available in all cells; therefore, the number of
available frequency resources is the same than for the re-use 1 scheme, similarly to the IFC through cell-
specific transmit power reduction. In the FFR PI scheme considered here, the enhanced channel quality is
achieved by allocating a higher power to the cell-edge sub-band, and consequently reducing the transmit power
of the remaining sub-bands in order to maintain the same total transmit power (see Figure B-5 in Appendix
B.1.2). Note the term "frequency re-use" is misleading in the case of partial power isolation, since all the
frequencies are used at all cells; in that case, it refers actually to the re-use of the frequency resources
benefiting from reduced interference levels.
Whatever the scheme using the full system bandwidth, the interference level experienced in the sub-band with
enhanced channel quality is higher than in the FFR with full isolation case since interference from the
neighbouring cells is still present.
Only static coordination schemes are considered here, where the power and bandwidth of each sub-band
remain fixed over time.
In addition, this study addresses different scheduling policies in order to prioritize the cell-edge UTs in the sub-
bands with enhanced channel conditions.
4.2.2 Scheduling policies

Three scheduling policies are considered in order to prioritise the cell-edge UTs into the sub-bands with
enhanced channel conditions (or cell-edge sub-bands). Note that for the sake of generality, we assume in this
description that the cell-edge sub-band can be UT dependent. UTs are classified as “cell-edge” if their SINR
averaged over the whole allowed bandwidth is below a given threshold. These schemes assume that each UT is
allocated a number of chunks (possibly depending on the UT) known by the scheduler at the time where the
prioritization schemes are applied.
Cell-edge UTs first (priority scheme 1): This scheme is restrained to the frequency-adaptive mode. The chunk
assignment is performed in two steps: first, the cell-edge UTs select their best chunks (i.e. the chunks with the
highest CQI) in priority. When the cell-edge UTs have been allocated all their chunks, the chunks assignment
process is performed for the non cell-edge UTs using the remaining chunks. This scheme has no interest in the
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non frequency-adaptive mode since the chunk CQI is not taken into account there. However, this scheme can
be used also for the re-use 1 scheme with the frequency-adaptive mode.
Cell-edge UTs constrained to the cell-edge band (priority scheme 2): Like the previous one, this scheme
assigns chunks to the cell-edge UTs first, but in addition the cell-edge UTs are constrained to be allocated
chunks from their cell-edge band. When the cell-edge UTs are too numerous to be allocated all their chunks in
the cell-edge band, this scheme shares the cell-edge band evenly between the cell-edge UTs associated with
this cell-edge band. In the non frequency-adaptive mode, this scheme reduces to allocating the cell-edge UTs in
their cell-edge band first, in an evenly manner if the cell-edge band is too narrow to contain all the chunks of
the associated cell-edge UTs
Only the first cell-edge UTs are constrained to the cell-edge band (priority scheme 3): This scheme differs
from the previous one only when the number of cell-edge UTs selected for transmission is too large compared
to the available cell-edge band. In this case, only the N first cell-edge UTs are constrained to be allocated in the
cell-edge band, where N is chosen so that all the chunks of these N UTs can be allocated within the cell-edge
band. The remaining cell-edge UTs are then allocated outside the cell-edge band, but still have the priority over
the non cell-edge UTs in the frequency-adaptive mode.
4.2.3 Impact on System Architecture, Measurements and Signalling

Since the power masks are static over time, no inter BS communication is required neither time
synchronisation between them if the spectrum allocation for the base stations of an operator remains constant
over time. In this case the partitioning of the frequency resources between all Base Stations is done offline via
Network Planning. However, this would be no longer the case in the presence of dynamic adaptation of the
spectrum available, which can result from fast-pace spectrum negotiations among operators. In this case,
maintaining the power masks coordination between neighbouring base stations may require additional
information exchanges in order to agree on the boundaries of the various sub-bands if there is no guaranteed
band excluded from the negotiations, especially if the available spectrum varies between neighbouring base
stations.
The construction of the frequency patterns has also to be compatible with the pilot patterns distribution over
the cells. Especially pilots corresponding to power reduced frequency subsets will also be reduced in power.
As for the proposed prioritization schemes, the only measurement needed is the average SINR measured over
the whole bandwidth, or equivalently the average CQI, which is available at the BS for link adaptation. In the
case of IFC through cell-specific transmit power reduction, the resource allocation achieved by the scheduler is
supported by the mobile terminals reporting to their serving base station which other base stations are strongly
received and which is the strongest. These reports are known from classical handover algorithms and therefore
do not require additional signalling to be introduced. It is just necessary that the base station number identifies
the inhibited frequency subset. As a consequence, for all the considered coordination schemes, no additional
feedback or measurement is required compared to those needed by the normal mode of operation of the
WINNER system.
4.2.4 Complexity
The complexity added by the considered schemes resides in the scheduler implementation at the base station,
taking into account the additional constraints required by the prioritization schemes. Nevertheless, this
complexity increase is minor. No other additional complexity is introduced by this technique, neither on the
network elements nor on the system functionality itself.
4.2.5 Performance assessments

The evaluations of the proposed schemes are carried on under the Wide Area Base Urban Coverage scenario
for the downlink. Two distinct class III system-level simulators with slightly different assumptions have been
used according to the investigated technique. Therefore, this section is split into two sub-sections: Section
4.2.5.1 studies the performance of IFC through cell-specific transmit power reduction in the frequency-
adaptive mode. Then, Section 4.2.5.2 investigates the performance of FFR in the frequency-adaptive and non-
adaptive modes, together with the impact of prioritization schemes at the scheduler.
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4.2.5.1 IFC through cell-specific transmit power reduction

4.2.5.1.1 Scenario and simulation assumptions
The performance of the IFC scheme using cell-specific transmit power reduction described in section 4.2.1 has
been evaluated for the WINNER II Base Coverage Urban scenario specified in [WIN2D6137]. Single antenna
transmission at BS side for the Downlink has been considered first then the fixed Grid of Beams configuration
defined in the baseline [WIN2D6137]; the link diversity at UT side was achieved by the MRC scheme and a
full buffer traffic model was assumed for the transmission. The investigations were conducted for 21 sectors
with an average number of 10 UTs per sector using a class III system-level simulator including the Wrap-
around technique as depicted in Appendix A.2; all links have been simulated and all sectors taken into account
for the evaluations.
Table B-1 in Appendix B.1.1 summarizes the simulation assumptions and parameters used which correspond
to the WINNER II baseline [WIN2D6137] with some different choices indicated there. The frequency-adaptive
mode is considered in these evaluations of the IFC scheme without the prioritization schemes described in
Section 4.2.2.
4.2.5.1.2 Simulation results

For the Interference Coordination (IFC) scheme described above the frequency re-use values of 7/6 , 3/2 and
3/1 leading to power reduction per cell of 10 dB in 1/7, 2/3 and 1/3 of the resources have been investigated and
compared. Both UT velocities of 3 km/h and 30 km/h have been considered.
Figure 4-1 presents the behaviour of the CDF of the average user throughput for these different frequency re-
use values:
cdf of av. user TP - vel. 3 km/h & 30 km/h cdf of av. user TP
1 0.5
0.9 0.45
0.8 0.4
0.7 0.35
0.6 0.3
0.5 0.25
cdf
cdf
IFC 3/1 Tx:1 x Rx:2 (MRC) 3 km/h

0.4 0.2
IFC 3/1 Tx:1 x Rx:2 (MRC) 30 km/h
0.3 IFC 3/2 Tx:1 x Rx:2 (MRC) 3 km/h 0.15 IFC 3/1 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC) 3 kmh
IFC 3/2 Tx: 1 x Rx:2 (MRC) 30 km/h IFC 3/1 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC) 30 kmh
0.2 IFC 7/6 Tx:1 x Rx:2 (MRC) 3 km/h 0.1 IFC 3/2 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC) 3 kmh
IFC 7/6 Tx:1 x Rx:2 (MRC) 30 km/h IFC 3/2 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC) 30 kmh
0.1 0.05 IFC 7/6 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC) 3 kmh
IFC 7/6 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC) 30 kmh
0 0
0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
TP [Mbit/s] TP [Mbit/s]
Figure 4-1: CDF of the average user throughput for different re-use values
This figure shows the better performance of the IFC scheme for the re-use value 7/6 over re-use values 3/2 and
3/1 in that order, whereby overall performance degradation occurs as expected when the UT velocity increases.
This holds for the average user throughput as well as for the cell edge user throughput (determined by the 5
percentile of the CDF average user throughput). These results reflect the greater amount of resources available
using this IFC scheme with the re-use 7/6 since in that case only 1/7 of the resources are reduced in power as
well as the improvement of the situation at cell edge border. The corresponding detailed results are shown
below for both UT velocities investigated:
Table 4-1: Performance of the IFC scheme for different re-use values
IFC 7/6 IFC 7/6 IFC 3/2 IFC 3/2 IFC 3/1 IFC 3/1
UT vel 3 UT vel 30 UT vel 3 UT vel 30 UT vel 3 UT vel 30
km/h km/h km/h km/h km/h km/h
Cell edge user
throughput (Mb/s) 2.43 2.33 2.27 2.17 1.79 1.72
Average sector
throughput (Mb/s) 77.6 71.4 67.3 62.2 62.9 57.6
Sector spectral
efficiency (b/s/Hz) 1.55 1.43 1.35 1.24 1.26 1.15
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In the case of UT velocity 3 km/h for instance the investigated IFC scheme used with the re-use value 7/6
outperforms the cases of re-use values 3/2 resp. 3/1 by 15% resp 23% for the average sector throughput and by
7 % resp 36% for the cell edge throughput.
Besides these results obtained for the different frequency re-use values for the IFC scheme considered, further
investigations have been conducted for comparison with the configuration without IFC; still one single
transmit antenna at BS side and two receive antennas at UT side were used while keeping the MRC diversity
scheme at UT side. This later case corresponds to a frequency re-use value of 1 over the whole bandwidth for
all cells.
Under the simulation assumptions stated above degradation of the performance has been observed for the
average sector throughput for all re-use values investigated for the IFC scheme compared with the situation
without IFC whereby the worst case is the re-use 3/1. For re-use 7/6 the degradation observed amounts -8.1%
and for the re-use values 3/2 resp. 3/1 it corresponds to -20.3% resp. -25.5%. The cell edge user throughput
improves slightly by +0.4 % for the IFC scheme with 7/6 re-use compared to the case without IFC but also
decreases for the 3/2 and 3/1 re-use values in that order by -6.2% resp. -25.7% ; these results are detailed in
Table B-2 in the Appendix B.1.1.
First remarks for this measured behaviour which indicates that a frequency re-use of 1 without any
coordination addressing the inter-cell interference situation performs in average better than the IFC scheme
investigated have to address the simulation assumptions themselves. For example the number of UTs simulated
per sector is 10 in average whereby the Inter Site Distance is set to 1000 m in the deployment scenario
considered. This corresponds to a rather low density of UTs which does not ensure a uniform distribution as
such which would be beneficial for schemes based on restrictions in the cells. Furthermore the type of
scheduler used in combination with the IFC scheme would also have an impact on the performance achieved.
Preliminary investigations have been conducted addressing a further variant of the Base Coverage Urban
scenario indicated in [WIN2D6133] with a scheduler based on a minimum target throughput per served UT;
this kind of scheduler would apply for real-time services like e.g. VoIP. Appendix B.1.1 contains the
simulations assumptions together with the first results obtained which indicate that significant improvements at
the cell border could be achieved by the IFC scheme with 7/6 re-use over the case without IFC; however
further consolidation of these results is needed taking the complete WINNER II evaluation baseline for Wide
Area into account..
The CDF of the average SINR at UT receiver output as further assessment criteria is shown in Figure 4-2 for
all re-use values investigated at both UT velocities:
UT vel. 3 km/h UT vel. 30 km/h
1 1
0.9 0.9
0.8 0.8
0.7 0.7
cdf of av. SINR
cdf of av. SINR
0.6 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC) 0.6 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC)

IFC 7/6 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC) IFC 7/6 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC)
0.5 0.5
IFC 3/2 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC) IFC 3/2 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC)
0.4 IFC 3/1 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC) 0.4 IFC 3/1 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC)
0.3 0.3
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0 0
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
av. SINR (dB) av. SINR (dB)
Figure 4-2: CDF of the average SINR (left 3 km/h; right 30 km/h)
In order to further evaluate the behaviour of the IFC scheme still taking into account the simulation
assumptions indicated above investigations have been conducted combining this scheme with transmit
diversity at BS side, diversity at UT side being maintained by the MRC scheme.
For this the fixed Grid of Beams (GoB) technique as specified in the baseline [WIN2D6137] has been
evaluated for the IFC scheme using the re-use value of 7/6; configurations with 2 and 4 transmitting antennas
at BS side have been considered for UT velocity 3 km/h.
The behaviour of the average user throughput is shown in Figure 4-3:
Page 20 (85)
av. user TP cdf - vel. 3 km/h av. user TP cdf - vel. 3 km/h
1 0.5
Tx: fix GoB 2 Rx: 2 (MRC)
0.9 0.45
IFC 7/6 Tx: fix GoB 2 Rx: 2 (MRC)
0.8 0.4 Tx: fix GoB 4 Rx: 2 (MRC)
0.7 0.35 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC)
IFC 7/6 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC)
0.6 0.3
0.5 0.25
cdf
cdf
0.4 0.2
0.3 Tx: fix GoB 4 Rx: 2 (MRC) 0.15
0.2 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC) 0.1
IFC 7/6 Tx:1 Rx:2 (MRC)
0.1 0.05
0 0
0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 0 5.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0
TP [Mbit/s] TP [Mbit/s]
Figure 4-3: CDF of the average user throughput (IFC 7/6 with GoB)
The corresponding results are summarized in Table 4-2:
Table 4-2: Performance of IFC re-use 7/6 combined with fixed GoB configurations
Tx: 1 IFC 7/6 Tx: GoB IFC7/6 Tx: GoB IFC7/6

Rx: 2 Tx: 1 Rx: 2 Rx: 2 Tx: GoB 4 Rx: 2 Tx: GoB
(MRC) 2 (MRC) (MRC) 2 Rx: 2 (MRC) 4 Rx: 2
(MRC) (MRC)
Cell edge user
throughput (5%) (Mb/s) 2.42 2.43 3.1 2.9 3.7 3.6
Average sector
throughput (Mb/s) 84.5 77.6 94.5 90.0 102.9 95.9
Sector spectral
efficiency (b/s/Hz) 1.69 1.55 1.89 1.76 2.06 1.92
Improvements for the assessment criteria are achieved when the single antenna at transmit side is replaced by a
fixed GoB configuration in all cases but for the combination with the IFC scheme the same behaviour is
observed as above: the cell edge throughput degrades compared to the re-use 1 case by -6.5 % resp -2.7% for 2
resp. 4 transmit antennas used in the fixed GoB scheme. Degradation for the average sector throughput
amounts -4.8 % resp. -6.8% in those cases compared to the re-use 1 scheme.
The CDF of the average SINR at UT receiver output is shown Figure 4-4 for these cases of combination of the
IFC scheme with fixed GoB for the UT velocity value of 3 km/h:
UT vel. 3 km/h
0.9
Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC)
0.8
IFC 7/6 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC)
0.7
cdf of av. SINR
0.6 IFC 7/6 Tx : fix GoB 2 x Rx:2

(MRC)
0.5
IFC 7/6 Tx: fix GoB 4 x Rx: 2
0.4 (MRC)
0.3
0.2 Tx: fix GoB 4 Rx: 2 (MRC)

0.1
0
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
av. SINR (dB)
Figure 4-4: CDF of the average SINR (IFC 7/6 with GoB)
Page 21 (85)
The observations made earlier remain also with this configuration: degradation of the performance occurs
when the IFC scheme is used in combination with GoB in all cases compared to the situation without IFC
(frequency re-use 1).
4.2.5.2 Fractional frequency re-use & impact of prioritization schemes

4.2.5.2.1 Scenario and simulation assumptions
The performance of FFR together with the proposed prioritization schemes is evaluated with respect to the
traditional frequency re-use 1 scheme using a class III system-level simulator. The considered scenario is the
base coverage urban scenario specified in [WIN2D6137], except deviations detailed in Appendix B.1.2 . We
consider a hexagonal deployment of 57 sectors. The multi-cell environment is accounted for using the central
cell technique (see Appendix A.2.1), where only the channel of the 7 dominant interferers in a long-term basis
are accurately modelled, the other interferers' channels being modelled as SISO and single-path ones. The total
number of UTs in each sector is 24 in average. Only the downlink is considered, with a full buffer traffic
model. Each cell transmits with equal full power, the transmit power being shared among the different sub-
bands according to the features of the power restriction schemes described above. Moreover, all the resources
are permanently occupied in the interfering cells, which means that the system operates at full load. Both the
frequency-adaptive and non-adaptive modes are considered, using OFDMA with chunk-wise resource
allocation for both modes. The users' velocity is 3km/h in frequency-adaptive mode and 50 km/h in non-
adaptive mode. At the transmitter, either single-antenna transmission is employed, or the baseline Grid of
Beams [WIN2D6137] with 4 antennas. The UT always uses two receive antennas. Since the impact of the
prioritization schemes depends on the way the scheduler is designed, we invite the reader to refer to Appendix
B.1.2 for its detailed description.
The FFR FI and FFR PI schemes use a frequency re-use factor of 3 for the cell-edge resources. For the FFR FI,
the cell-edge band involves 16 chunks, which - due to the frequency re-use 3 - leads to 112 chunks available
for use to each sector over the 144 chunks of the total system bandwidth, i.e. each sector can use 78% only of
the system bandwidth. This relatively narrow cell-edge bandwidth has been chosen in order to avoid reducing
the available resources too much.
For the FFR PI scheme, the cell-edge band represents 1/3 of the cell bandwidth and is allocated 1.5 times more
transmit power than the rest of the band (see Figure B-4 in Appendix B.1.2), as this setting has been reported to
be efficient in [R1050841].
4.2.5.2.2 Summary of the simulation results

In this first set of results, only one transmit antenna is used at the BS. Figure 4-5 shows the user throughput
CDF for the FFR FI in the non-adaptive mode; the user throughput CDF for the adaptive mode can be found in
Appendix B.1.2, as well as the SINR CDFs for both modes and the full set of results for the FFR PI scheme.
CDF of average user throughput
1
CDF of average user throughput
0.9 0.1
0.8 0.09
Prob( av. user throughput < X)
0.08
0.7
0.07
0.6
0.06
0.5
0.05
0.4
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - reuse 1 0.04
0.3 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - no priority
0.03
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 2
0.2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - reuse 1
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 3 0.02 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - no priority
0.1 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 2
0.01
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 3
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Av. user throughput (Mb/s) Av. user throughput (Mb/s)
Figure 4-5: user throughput CDF in the non-adaptive mode for FFR FI
The tables below summarize the results obtained for the FFR FI and FFR PI schemes with the various
prioritization schemes, as well as their relative improvements w.r.t. the re-use 1 scheme, for the non-adaptive
and adaptive modes, respectively.
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Coordination FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI

FR1
scheme No priority Scheme 2 Scheme 3
Sector service 47 41 41 40
throughput (Mb/s) +0% -13% -12% -14%
Cell-edge service 120 195 270 310
throughput (kb/s) +0% +60% +125% +160%
Table 4-3: Performance results for the FFR FI in non-adaptive mode
Coordination FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI

FR1
scheme No priority Scheme 1 Scheme 2 Scheme 3
Sector service 86 71 70 70 69
throughput (Mb/s) +0% -18% -18% -19% -20%
Cell-edge service 320 450 820 630 480
throughput (kb/s) +0% +40% +155% +97% +50%
Table 4-4: Performance results for the FFR FI in frequency-adaptive mode
Coordination FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI

FR1
throughput (Mb/s) +0% +2% -1% +0%
throughput (kb/s) +0% -42% -8% -4%
Table 4-5: Performance results for the FFR PI in non-adaptive mode
Coordination FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI

FR1
throughput (Mb/s) +0% +1% -1% -3% -4%
throughput (kb/s) +0% -11% +9% +12% ~0%
Table 4-6: Performance results for the FFR PI in frequency-adaptive mode
The results show that the FFR PI scheme as almost no impact on the sector throughput, but does not bring a
sufficient SINR improvement to allow significant cell-edge throughput increases (no gain in non-adaptive
mode, +10% in adaptive mode). However, non-negligible gains in cell-edge throughput are achieved by the
FFR FI scheme (+155% in both mode), but at the expense of a significant sector throughput degradation (-13%
in non-adaptive mode, -20% in adaptive mode), due to the reduction of the available resources.
For a given scheme, the gain in cell-edge throughput is lower in the frequency-adaptive mode because the
frequency adaptivity already provides robustness w.r.t. inter-cell interference by allocating to UTs the
resources where they benefit from the best channel conditions, even in the absence of additional interference
mitigation techniques.
Among the investigated prioritization schemes, the one that exhibits the best trade-off between the cell-edge
throughput improvement and the sector throughput degradation depends on the frequency adaptivity.
In the non-adaptive mode, the most efficient scheme is the one which allocates the totality of the chunks of
some cell-edge UTs into the cell-edge band, all the chunks of the other cell-edge UTs being assigned outside
the cell-edge band (scheme 3). Note that the prioritization scheme which shares evenly the cell-edge band
among the cell-edge UTs achieves a lower degradation of the sector throughput, but a lower gain in cell-edge
throughput (+125% vs. +160% for the FFR FI). However, since the sector throughput difference between both
schemes is only 1 Mbits/s, the best trade-off appears to be achieved by prioritization scheme 3.
In the adaptive mode, the most efficient scheme allows the cell-edge UTs to be allocated their chunks first,
without being constrained into the cell-edge band (scheme 1). This result is logical since the best chunks of the
cell-edge UTs may not necessarily be located in the cell-edge sub-band due to the frequency selectivity of the
channel.
Page 23 (85)
The combination of the FFR FI scheme with multiple-antenna interference mitigation techniques is also
assessed. Figure 4-6 presents the user throughput CDF in the cell-edge region for the non-adaptive and
adaptive modes, respectively (see Appendix B.1.2 for the full set of results).
CDF of average user throughput CDF of average user throughput

0.2 0.2
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - reuse 1 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - reuse 1
0.18 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 3 0.18 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1
1 Tx - 2Rx IRC - reuse 1 1 Tx - 2Rx IRC - reuse 1
0.16 0.16
1 Tx - 2Rx IRC - FFR FI - prio. 3 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1

0.14 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC 0.14 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC - reuse 1

4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC- FFR FI - prio. 3 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC- FFR FI - prio. 1
0.12 0.12
0.1 0.1
0.08 0.08
0.06 0.06
0.04 0.04
0.02 0.02
0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Figure 4-6: user throughput CDF for combination of FFR FI with Grid of Beams for the non-adaptive
(left) and frequency-adaptive modes (right)
The FFR FI scheme benefits from increased performances when used in conjunction with IRC. However it
brings poor improvement in cell-edge throughput when used in combination with the GoB (+7% in non-
adaptive mode), and even degrades it in frequency-adaptive mode. This behaviour can be explained by the fact
that in FFR schemes, the interference reduction in the cell-edge bands is achieved at the expense of a transmit
power reduction in other resources. The GoB, because of the directivity of the interference, dynamically
creates almost interference-exempt resources, when the UT is not hit by an interfering beam. As a
consequence, the GoB has very little to gain from sub-bands with lower interference levels (the actual gain is
likely to depend on the probability to be interfered by a beam versus the probability to be scheduled in
resources with reduced interference, as well as the effective interference reduction in the latters). On the
contrary, the reduced power on other sub-bands affects the useful signal power received on these sub-bands,
which effectively reduces the efficiency of the GoB compared to the re-use 1 scheme.
4.2.6 Conclusions and recommendations

The IFC scheme with cell-specific transmit power reduction has shown the best performance when using the
re-use value 7/6 over the re-use values 3/2 and 3/1. However the comparison of this scheme with a frequency
re-use of 1 has indicated that the gain achieved for the cell edge throughput is very small but that degradation
occurs for the average sector throughput. These results are based on simulations assumptions taking into
account the proportional fair score based scheduler as well as a full buffer for the traffic model for the Wide
Area Base Urban Coverage scenario.
Furthermore preliminary investigations conducted with a scheduler based on a minimum target throughput per
served user have shown that significant performance using this IFC scheme could be achieved in comparison
with re-use 1. This has to be consolidated in further evaluations.
In conclusion, among the studied schemes, only the FFR FI appears to present an interest for practical
implementation. Unfortunately, the significant sector throughput degradation it induces prevents it from being
applied for data channels in case of high network load. Nevertheless, it can be used for low to medium loads,
when the network can afford a lower sector throughput, in order to enhance the user experience at the cell-
edge. On top of this, it has been shown that interference coordination schemes are almost useless when GoB is
used at the transmitter. Therefore, interference coordination schemes should be reserved to situations where
GoB can not be employed, for instance for common channels.
An option is to use the FFR FI scheme whatever the load for control channels only, in particular the BCH
which is transmitted in the preamble of the super-frame. Such an approach increases the minimum SINR
experienced during the BCH transmission, thus allowing higher MCS to be used in order to transmit essential
control information to UTs experiencing bad radio conditions, while retaining the full set of resources available
for data transmission. Of course, the resulting reduction of the control overhead has to be traded off against a
Page 24 (85)
reduction of the bandwidth available for control channels, so it is not sure whether such a scheme would be
beneficial in the end. In addition, note the super-frame transmission would need to be time-aligned across
neighbouring cells, which would require network synchronization.
4.3 Resource partitioning

In WINNER system architecture, there are several functions in different layers dealing with spectrum
assignment, resource partitioning, load balancing and resource allocation as described in section 2.2.2..
Figure 4-7 shows the resource partitioning process and interactions with other functions involved in this
process.
Long Term
Assignment
no yes
Multi-
RAN?
Inter-RAN HO/
“Single Load Balancing
RAN
Intra-RAN HO
Intra-RAN HO
Short Term ST assignment Req.
Assignment
Available spectrum
yes
no
yes Inter-cell No
WINNER Inter-cell Overloaded Resource Still
Overloaded?
RAN Load Balancing cell? Partitioning
Figure 4-7: Resource partitioning process
Apart from resource partitioning, there are a number of other interference mitigation techniques intensively
studied in WINNER (see [WIN2D471] and [WIN2D473] for details). Simulation results show that under some
circumstances, these techniques provide enough protection against inter-cell interference and partitioning may
not be required. However, the investigations performed so far assume perfect estimation of essential
parameters such as control signalling and channel parameters. In the presence of estimation errors, it is possible
that the maximum interference level tolerated by some users to access the system will degrade, making
necessary additional interference control mechanisms. Moreover, there may be situations where efficient
spatial interference mitigation techniques such as the Grid of Beams are not implemented at the access point.
These are examples in which Inter-cell resource partitioning may become necessary as the last resort to control
and maintain the interference level. It should be noted however that resource partitioning is a trade-off between
improved SINR and restricted access to resources (i.e. trunking efficiency). The resource partitioning scheme
should therefore be able to adjust the relative load with the available resources in each partition to avoid this
set back as much as possible.
Resource partitioning can be implemented in conjunction with these techniques in a hybrid manner as
illustrated in Figure 4-8. In every base station, Spectrum assignment function [WIN1D63] at RRC layer sets
the total available spectrum for the constraint processor [WIN1D63] at MAC layer. This is in fact same as if re-
use 1 was considered for all cells. At this stage, other mitigation techniques are operating trying to maintain
interference in an acceptable level. When the load increases to some extent then inter-cell resource partitioning
enforces partitioning limitations in the constraint processor based on network load and interference conditions.
Page 25 (85)
Spectrum Assignment
Inter-cell
Load
Resource Partitioning/ No Partitioning
Increases
Load balancing
Constraint Processing
Figure 4-8: Hybrid approach towards resource partitioning
4.3.1 Flexible Re-use Partitioning

4.3.1.1 Description
Inter-cell resource partitioning based on Flexible Re-use Partitioning (FRP) method has been suggested in
WINNER I [WIN1D35]. This scheme is capable of performing inter-cell partitioning in a hybrid manner.
From a cell point of view, FRP is a method which implements different re-use zones per cell i.e. divides the
cell coverage area into concentric zones with different re-use factors based on the received Broadcast Channel
(BCH) level. A “cell” is recognized by its BCH coverage area. BCH is the last section of preamble broadcasted
from each base station in every MAC super frame.
The inner zone in each cell is re-use 1 zone and therefore will be exempted from resource partitioning
restrictions. Given a cellular deployment with Re-use 7 on broadcasting BCH resulting in “N” sites with co-
channel BCH, the criteria for Re-use 1 zone in cell “i” is defined as:
PBCH i
N J Threshold Re use1 (1)
¦P
j 1, j z i
BCH j
The level of inter-cell interference in this zone can be adjusted by ThresholdReuse1 value. We can further extend
this definition to zones with higher re-use factors that gives more protection against inter-cell interference. A
sector with three different re-use zones is illustrated in Figure 4-9 where green zone is the area exempted form
partitioning (i.e. re-use 1), and yellow and orange zones have re-use 3 and re-use 7 partitioning respectively.
Each sector is considered a separate cell with a unique BCH channel. The threshold values are dynamically
adjusted according to the interference level and load distribution in the system.
PBCH i
Orange zone criteria for cellj (Reuse 7) : N @ Threshold Re use7
¦P
j 1,i z j
BCH j
PBCH i
Yellow zone criteria for cellj (Reuse 3): Threshold Re use3 N J Threshold Re use7
¦P
j 1,i z j
BCH j
PBCH i
Green zone criteria for cellj (Reuse 1): N J Threshold Re use1
¦P
j 1,i z j
BCH j
Figure 4-9: Re-use partitioning criteria per cell (tri-sector deployment)
The simplest yet promising form of implementing FRP is to divide the cell into inner (re-use 1) and outer (re-
use 3) zones. ThresholdReuse3 is set to 0 (-inf dB) letting re-use 3 zone to cover the outer region of cell’s
coverage area. An optimum value for ThresholdReuse1 is subject to the propagation environment, interference
and load situation and should be adjusted dynamically to maximize spectral efficiency. Early works on re-use
Page 26 (85)
partitioning suggest that for a cell radius of R with re-use 1 and re-use k for inner and outer regions
respectively, the inner-outer boundary should be set at R / k [Hal83]. Recent studies however show significant
improvement in system throughput for higher values of outer zone radius to some extent prior to a sharp fall in
the throughput afterwards [Bla01].
It should be noted that re-use zones defined above are considered identical for both downlink and uplink.
Although partitioning for relay nodes within a REC is a form of intra-cell resource partitioning and not
considered here, it is possible to implement FRP in a REC with some adjustments.
To implement FRP with hybrid approach as shown in Figure 4-8, by setting low ThresholdReuse1 value, one can
make the whole cell as re-use 1 zone and eliminate the partitioning restrictions. This is in fact very useful when
the traffic load is not high and inter-cell interference is kept within an acceptable range thanks to other
mitigation techniques.
It is assumed that resources for broadcasting preamble (including BCH) in each cell will be decided in network
planning phase based on a fixed frequency re-use pattern. At the same stage, re-use 3 (and optionally re-use 7)
resources are defined and set for individual cells based on dedicated spectrum available to each WINNER
operator. Not to be mentioned, this is a one-time process to make the base stations aware of their partitions per
zone before hand and there are no further updates or signalling required in that sense. UTs in each zone will be
identified, grouped, and scheduled accordingly based on received signal strength of own cell’s BCH relative to
other cells’ BCH or alternatively received BCH’s SINR level. This information in one form or another is
already available in each BS as it is required for handover process and there is no need for further measurement
or signalling. In case of spectrum re-adjustment due to e.g. ST spectrum assignment, the constraint processor
will be updated directly as shown in Figure 4-8 affecting re-use 1 resources only.
Threshold values can be updated due to load balancing and/or interference management commands. Whenever
is necessary, the threshold values per cell (see Figure 4-9) can be updated. When a cell is underloaded, base
station reduces its re-use 1 zone which in turn reduces its inter-cell emission. If it becomes overloaded, it
increases its re-use 1 zone and also triggers load balancing if needed. Load balancing can take place by mutual
negotiations between base stations. The overloaded cell sends a request to its neighbouring cells to reduce their
re-use 1 zone. After allowing some transition time, in case the situation did not improve or if there are
conflicting requests, then a more central controlling approach takes place which enforces the updated
thresholds based on its knowledge of relative load and resources in each cell.
Estimation of cell load can be taken from the scheduler’s buffer status in MAC layer or flow buffer status in
RLC layer.
4.3.1.2 Impact on System Architecture, Measurements and Signalling
The resource partitioning in this scheme is a one-time process at network planning stage and there are no
further updates or signalling required for resource partitions since they will not change. UTs in each zone will
be identified, grouped, and scheduled accordingly based on relative BCH signal strength or received BCH’s
SINR level. This information is already available in each BS for handover process.
Threshold values on the other hand, can be updated due to load balancing and/or interference management
commands. When a cell is overloaded, it increases its re-use 1 zone and also triggers load balancing if needed.
Load balancing can take place by mutual negotiations between base stations. The overloaded cell sends a
request to its neighbouring cells to reduce their re-use 1 zone. After allowing some transition time, in case the
situation did not improve or if there are conflicting requests, then a more central controlling approach takes
place which enforces the updated thresholds based on its knowledge of relative load and resources in each cell.
Estimation of cell load can be taken from the scheduler’s buffer status in MAC layer or flow buffer status in
RLC layer.
The signalling required is the threshold values for different re-use zones in each cell. Assuming re-use 1 in
inner and re-use 3 in outer zones, only one threshold value per cell is required. The thresholds values can also
be signalled as up/down commands. The RRC functions involved in this scheme are spectrum assignment,
congestion control, and resource partitioning. The MAC function involved in this scheme is constraint
processing.
4.3.1.3 Complexity
Since the re-use partitioning takes place at network planning stage, there is no additional complexity
introduced by this method during network operation since there is no need to update the partitions afterwards.
The UTs however need to be grouped according to their location and this grouping will be updated if the re-use
threshold changes. However, this information in one form or another is already available in each BS as it is
required for handover process and there is no need for further measurement or signalling.
In case of centralized controlling approach, the additional signalling needed is threshold values for different re-
use zones in each cell and cell loads. Assuming re-use 1 in inner and re-use 3 in outer zones, only one
threshold value per cell is required. The thresholds values can also be signalled as up/down commands.
Page 27 (85)
4.3.1.4 Scenario and simulation assumptions

The Wide Area Base Urban Coverage scenario in downlink has been considered for the simulations.
A class III System Level simulator using wrap around technique has been used to assess the scheme
performance. Simulation lay out is constituted by 57 cells/sectors in 19 sites. Full buffer is considered for
downlink traffic.
4.3.1.5 Simulation results

Downlink simulations for Re-use 1 (no partitioning) and FRP with static inner and outer zones have been
carried out. Figure 4-10 illustrates the CDF for downlink SINR across the cell coverage area.
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
Cumulative distribution
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
dB
Figure 4-10: CDF of downlink SINR without partitioning (Re-use 1)
The threshold values to define zone boundaries are chosen based on preamble SINR values – see Figure B-14
in Appendix B.2. The outer zone (with re-use 3) is defined as the area with preamble SINR less than 20dB.
Figure 4-11 illustrates the CDF for downlink SINR in this case.
1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
dB
Figure 4-11: CDF of downlink SINR for FRP with inner-outer re-use zones
4.3.1.6 Assessment
FRP is a partitioning scheme only, and the assessment criteria used here is CDF of SINR. The results are
assessed in comparison to CDF of SINR in re-use 1 (no partitioning). Throughput however very much depends
on the scheduling algorithm being used.
This method can be implemented in three steps: in the first step, each base station adjusts its re-use zones
individually according to its load without coordinating with other cells. In this case, no signalling is required.
Page 28 (85)
In the second step, co-ordination between neighbouring base stations takes place to adjust re-use zones
mutually. In this case request signal will be sent to neighbouring cells.
Finally, in case the situation did not improve or if there are conflicting requests, then a more central controlling
approach takes place which enforces the updated thresholds based on its knowledge of relative load and
resources in each cell.
4.3.1.7 Conclusions and recommendations
Comparing the results from re-use 1 in Figure 4-10 and FRP in Figure 4-11 (e.g. at 50% CDF point), it
suggests significant improvement of up to 10dB in downlink SINR by implementing FRP in its simplest form
of inner-outer partitioning.
The recommendation is to implement FRP in conjunction with other interference mitigation techniques in a
hybrid manner as illustrated in Figure 4-8. In every base station, Spectrum assignment function sets the total
available spectrum for the constraint processor. This is in fact same as if re-use 1 was considered for all cells.
At this stage, other mitigation techniques are operating trying to maintain interference in an acceptable level.
When the load increases to some extent then inter-cell resource partitioning enforces partitioning limitations in
the constraint processor based on network load and interference conditions.
4.3.2 Self adaptive Re-use Partitioning

4.3.2.1 Description
Self adaptive re-use partitioning (SARP) represents an interference avoidance technique exploiting a priority
based partitioning of chunks available to a given cell. We refer to this technique as self adaptive since chunk
priorities are evaluated independently by individual cells, taking into account locally available information
(interference along with a re-use factor). Each of the resource subsets obtained by partitioning is assigned to a
designated category of UTs. In the following we categorize UTs based on their path-loss measurements.
Within each category, the channels are distributed between individual UTs by means of cost function based
scheduling (CFBS) which further decreases the experienced interference. Adaptive CFBS is described in
Section 5.4.
The priority P (c ) of the channel c is obtained by evaluating the following priority function:
P(c) WI I (c) WR R(c),
where I (c ) denotes the mean interference observed on the channel c normalized to the interval 0,1 and
R (c ) represents the re-use factor of the channel c . The weights WI and WR are real valued constants.
When UT categories based on path-loss are used, SARP assigns chunks with the highest priority and
consequently the highest quality to UTs with path-loss exceeding a specified threshold. The remaining chunks
with lower priority values are assigned to UTs with better transmission conditions located closer to the centre
of the given cell.
Since the priority calculation for chunks can be influenced by changing the weights or introducing chunks with
re-use greater than 1, SARP is a flexible technique that can be easily adjusted to fit the given network or traffic
conditions.
Throughout this section, we compare the performance of four different flavours of SARP that aim at avoiding
the inter-cell interference. In particular, we consider the following cases:
1) Channel priority P (c ) is set randomly. All chunks are transmitted with a re-use factor of 1 and their
assignment to UT categories is performed independently in each cell in a random manner. We refer to
this case as Random SARP (RSARP).
2) Channel priority is determined with the weight settings W I
1 and W R 0 . Due to the negative
WI , channels with lower interference have higher priority, while the channel re-use is not taken into
account. Hence we refer to this case as re-use 1 Interference based SARP (ISARP). Here, the channels
with lower interference are allocated to UTs with path-loss higher than a specified threshold (115 dB).
We can interpret this as a dynamic resource partitioning technique.
3) Channel priority is determined with the weight settings W I
1 and W R 1 . Thus, the channel
with higher re-use has higher priority. At the cell border, a re-use 3 is deployed (see Figure B-15 in
Appendix B.3); i.e., 1/4 of all channels are used in this zone. We use the path-loss threshold of 115 dB
to specify the radius of central re-use 1 zone. The term Re-use 3 SARP (R3SARP) is reserved for this
case.
4) As in the previous case, with the path-loss threshold set to 118 dB.
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4.3.2.2 Impact on system architecture, measurements and signalling

In the case of SARP with re-use 1 channels only, the partitioning is totally decentralized and no inter-cell
signalling is necessary. However, when channels with re-use greater than 1 are introduced a need for frequency
planning arises. The related signalling overhead is however almost negligible.
Both investigated cases require reporting of path-loss and interference measurements from each UT. Such kind
of measurements is part of a normal operation within the Winner RAN at least to initiate cell-reselection
procedures.
4.3.2.3 Complexity
The complexity of SARP depends on a method used to determine the priority of chunks. If a method requires
measurements such as interference, path-loss etc., its complexity is linear and increases with the number of
chunks as well as the number of UTs. However, if the priorities of chunks are determined without the need for
measurements, e.g. randomly, the complexity is extremely low.
4.3.2.4 Simulation Assumptions

The simulations are performed using class II dynamic system level simulator with a realistic traffic model to
simulate a downlink direction. The deployment scenario used follows specifications for WINNER II base
coverage urban [WIN2D6137] and is constituted by 57 sectors on 19 sites; i.e., each site consists of 3 sectors.
To meet the GoB specification [WIN2D6137], the sectors are equipped with an antenna array consisting of 4
elements used to form 8 fixed beams. The remaining system parameters are also based on [WIN2D6137] for
the base coverage urban scenario. Simulations are performed with a VoIP traffic, for which it is important to
guarantee a required data rate in real time. For a non-real time services, scheduling can be postponed until UTs
have better channels to provide them with a required data rate.
To reduce the overall simulation complexity, we simplify the resource modelling specified in [WIN2D6131]
and refined in [WIN2D6137]. One resource unit (RU) in our simulator represents 3 chunks. Therefore, in total
48 RUs are simulated. Furthermore, we consider perfect time and frequency synchronization at system level,
and thus any inter-symbol or inter-carrier interference is neglected. We summarize specific simulation
parameters in Table B-1 in Appendix B.3.
4.3.2.5 Simulation results
Figure 4-12 depicts the mean E2E user throughput for different loads and resource partitioning algorithms.
We can see that the highest mean throughput is obtained by ISARP within the considered range of loads.
Furthermore, with increasing load the mean throughput for ISARP, R3SARP-115 and R3SARP-118 decreases
and converges to the same value. As one would expect, the lowest mean throughput is achieved by RSARP
when chunks are partitioned in a random fashion. Since we performed simulations using VoIP traffic model,
the mean throughput values as well as the differences between different partitioning schemes are low. We can
expect that under different traffic conditions, these values could increase significantly and the differences
between different cases could become more noticeable.
Page 30 (85)
145 40
RSARP RSARP
140
ISARP ISARP
35
R3SARP-115
5th perc. E2E Throughput [kbps]

R3SARP-115
135 R3SARP-118
R3SARP-118
E2E Throughput [kbps]
30
130
125
25
120
20
115
110 15
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Users per cell Users per cell
Figure 4-12: Mean E2E user throughput for Figure 4-13: E2E user throughput at 5th
different resource partitioning schemes percentile for different resource partitioning
schemes
An important aspect that needs to be considered in the case of real time services is the outage probability. In
our case we consider that the outage probability corresponds to the 5th percentile of E2E throughput CDF.
Figure 4-13 depicts the 5th percentile for different loads.
We observe that the highest E2E throughout at 5% is achieved by ISARP and R3SARP-115. Similarly to mean
E2E throughput performance, we see that the differences between considered partitioning schemes are small.
This is in line with the observed distribution of SINR depicted for 40 UTs in Figure 4-14. As can be seen, the
distribution is essentially the same for all SARP strategies. This is caused by the use of GoB and the nature of
traffic used leading to a low level of inter-cell interference in the system (see Figure B-16 in Appendix B.3).
Therefore, under such assumptions the gain of the proposed techniques is not high in terms of absolute
throughput values. However, in our case even small differences play an important role as they can reduce the
outage probability of real time services. This is in fact more important than absolute values of overall
throughput.
100
90
80
70
60
CDF [%]
50
40 RSARP
ISARP
30
R3SARP-115
20 R3SARP-118
10
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
SINR [dB]
Figure 4-14: SINR distribution for different resource partitioning schemes
4.3.2.6 Recommendations
The simulation results show that random self-adaptive re-use partitioning performs almost as well as
interference based self-adaptive re-use partitioning or re-use greater than 1 at the cell border. This is because
interference is reduced by GoB considerably, and thus it seems that the use of additional mechanisms to protect
Page 31 (85)
the UTs at the cell border is unnecessary. Nevertheless, for VoIP even a small improvement in the outage
probability achieved by interference based self-adaptive re-use partitioning or by higher re-use at the cell
border could be important. This improvement might be also beneficial for other real-time services (e.g.
streaming) or if higher loads or UL is considered. On top of this, the use of Proportional Fair scheduler can
further improve performance by exploiting channel fluctuations due to fast fading. Since only PF scheduler
was used in this study, we refer to chapter 5 in [WIN2D471], where different scheduling algorithms were
compared.
5. Resource allocation and scheduling
5.1 Introduction
In this chapter the attainable bandwidth efficiency of a cellular system is closely tied with the ability of the
system to cope with interference. Due to the dynamic arrivals of data in packet switched networks, as well as
the time-varying characteristics of the mobile radio channel, the optimal assignment of resources that
maximizes the utilization of the available resources changes over time. Several schemes for resource allocation
and scheduling, designed to actively avoid inter-cell interference, are addressed in this chapter.
Provided that a central controller monitors and manages inter-cellular resource assignment, maximum
utilization of the available resources can be achieved. For a wide area (WA) downlink scenario, a dynamic
chunk allocation scheme relying on central control is presented in Section 5.2. The attainable gains are offset
by signalling overhead, and induced latency due to signalling of measurements to/from the central controller.
While a centralized approach ultimately maximizes the utilization of resources, a central controller might not
always be available. A distributed approach to dynamic chunk allocation is described in Section 5.3. This
decentralized approach relies on channel reservation using the busy signal concept, by exploiting channel
reciprocity in the TDD mode. For performance evaluation simulations are conducted for the metropolitan area
(MA) with a regular grid of buildings, as well as a local area (LA) peer-to-peer network.
Means to optimize the scheduling of resources for a cellular system are investigated in Sections 5.4 and 5.5.
These scheduling algorithms target the fairness problem that is intrinsically coupled with opportunistic
scheduling approaches. While some UTs with good links hardly suffer from interference, UTs with less
favourable links, typically located close to the cell border, starve for resources. The cost function based
scheduler in Section 5.4 introduces a cost function that aims to improve fairness by giving cell-edge UTs
priority. An interference aware scheduler that takes service dependent QoS requirements of users into account
is evaluated in Section 5.5. The score based scheduler, specified for the WINNER baseline design,
[WIN2D6137], is used as a benchmark of the attainable performance gains. Performance evaluations for WA
frequency adaptive downlinks are provided for both scheduling schemes.
5.2 Dynamic downlink chunk allocations using inter-cell coordination
5.2.1 Descriptions of the scheme

By using coordination among a group of neighbouring sectors, this dynamic downlink multi-cell chunk
allocation scheme aims to maximize throughput on allocated chunks as well as to improve throughput of the
user terminals (UTs) that are most affected by inter-cell interference. In particular, any (sub) optimal
scheduling scheme can exploit multi-user diversity to achieve maximized sector throughput by optimally
assigning best chunks to UTs. However, as the cell-edge UTs experience higher path-losses on the desired
links and prominent interference from nearby sectors, these (sub) optimal scheduling schemes tend to overlook
such disadvantaged UTs. Therefore, interference avoidance is crucial in order to offer minimum required data
rate to the cell-edge UTs.
This scheme is comprised of two separate algorithms residing at the sector and the central controller. Based on
the received interference on its UTs and their data rate requirements, each sector sends a request to the central
controller; this request include a tentative list of chunks to be restricted at the surrounding dominant interferer
sectors. This request also includes the utility measure of the chunks in the requesting sector. The central
controller gathers all such requests and processes to prepare a refined list of chunk restrictions to be applied in
all involved sectors. The working principle of the scheme is illustrated by the block diagram in Figure C-1 in
Appendix C.1.
Page 32 (85)
The restriction list is determined based on instantaneous channel knowledge and it can be valid as long as the
channel coherence time permits. The scheduler can only use the eligible chunks. Once the chunk restriction list
is available to the sector, it is up to the scheduler to schedule the eligible chunks with its criteria; i.e.,
scheduling is considered to be independent of the dynamic coordination based interference avoidance scheme.
The layout of the network used for the study is shown in Figure 5-1. In simulations, UTs are considered only in
the shaded sectors. Interference is considered from the first and the second tier sectors, of which the first tier
interferers are considered to be dominant (as shown enclosed by the wider circle in the figure with the sector of
interest in the centre). We assume that the UTs have the capability to identify and estimate dominant interferer
channels along with the desired channel. The UTs forward this channel information to the serving sector from
time to time; the rate of this feedback depends on the channel coherence time.
44 43
29 28 45 26 25
47 46 30 8 7 27 41 40
48 11 10 9 5 4 42
32 31 12 2 1 6 23 22
33 14 13 3 20 19 24
50 49 15 17 16 21 56 55
51 35 34 18 38 37 57
36 53 52 39
54
Figure 5-1: System layout used for the investigations
The algorithm at the sector is an utility maximization problem, where utility Uk,n is the utility of allocating
chunk k to UT n. This utility measure takes the status of desired channel, dominant interferer channels, and the
demand of resources for a UT into account. Also, in order for this algorithm not to be greedy (i.e. to maintain
fairness among neighbouring sectors), utility of a chunk decreases as the number of surrounding sectors to be
restricted increases. The details about this utility and the pseudo codes to prepare utility matrix are given in
Appendix C.1. At the sector, utility matrix Uk,n is solved using Hungarian (Munkres) algorithm, and chunk to
UT mapping is performed in an iterative manner until data rates of all UTs are satisfied or the resource is
exhausted. Note that this mapping is performed in order to prepare a tentative chunk restriction list for the
surrounding cells.
The central controller receives requests from involved sectors and finds an optimal combination of sectors that
can use a chunk concurrently. For a particular chunk, Figure 5-2 shows an example problem to be solved at the
central controller using its algorithm. In this figure, the green and red arrows indicate that interference received
at the arrow originating sector from the arrowhead sector is acceptable and unacceptable, respectively. For
example, for a chunk of interest, sector B can tolerate interference from sector A, but the opposite is not true as
there is a red arrow from sector A towards sector B. In this case, either sector A or B has to be restricted for
this chunk. Based on the utility of the chunk at each sector, the central controller finds the set of sectors that
can tolerate mutual interference and yet achieve maximum aggregate utility.
B C
Figure 5-2: Chunk restriction processing at the central controller
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5.2.2 Impact on system architecture, measurement, and signalling

In this scheme, UTs should be able to identify each first-tier dominant interferer; i.e. terminals should know the
pilots of the surrounding sectors. UTs report status of desired as well as dominant interferer channels to the BS.
In simulations, first-tier sectors (i.e. 6 sectors) are considered to be dominant interferers; therefore, 6 times
additional UT-BS feedback overhead is incurred. However, the rate of this channel reporting can be as low as
the channel coherence time permits. In order to reduce signalling overhead and overall complexity of the
scheme, coordination can only be applied to the cell/sector edge UTs as a need basis instead of all UTs.
Although the scheme is presented here with a central controller, it is able to work in a semi-distributed fashion,
where a base-station can act as a cluster-head to execute the central algorithm. Inter-BS synchronization is
required in this scheme.
5.2.3 Complexity Issues
The complexity of the Hungarian algorithm is O(n3), where n is the number of chunks. However, iterative
Hungarian is used until data rate of each UT is satisfied or the resource is exhausted. Therefore, the complexity
of the algorithm at the sector is the summation of O(ni3), where ni is the available chunks in the ith iteration.
The complexity of the algorithm at the central controller is low, as only pair-wise utility comparison is needed
to eliminate one if any two neighbouring sectors cannot tolerate mutual interference.
5.2.4 Scenario and simulation assumptions
The proposed scheme is simulated using class III simulator in downlink WINNER wide area FDD scenario.
WINNER C2 channel model and 20 km/hr UT mobility are considered. The system and simulation parameters
used in this study are summarized in Table C-1 in Appendix C.1.
We consider 15 UTs randomly placed in each shaded sector. The restrictions on chunk usage for all seven
shaded sectors and their first tier sectors are determined from the avoidance scheme. We simulate the following
two cases:
N Proposed coordinated scheme with sub-optimal scheduling by Hungarian algorithm: Total number of
eligible chunks is 144 less the number of restricted chunks.
N Reference uncoordinated scheme with sub-optimal scheduling using Hungarian algorithm: All 144
chunks are available to the scheduler.
UT rate requirement is 4.17 Mbps. Assigned chunks and rate satisfied UTs are removed from the matrix after
each iteration.
The parameter S acts as a threshold to determine if a surrounding sector is to be placed in restriction request list
(as indicated in the pseudo codes). For example, let us consider that sector x achieves a rate of 432 and 288 bits
on a particular chunk if interferer sector y is restricted and allowed, respectively. If S = 0.5 is used, 288 bits
would be greater than 432*0.5, and therefore, sector x would not place sector y in the restriction list for that
chunk. As S increases more and more chunks are expected to be restricted in each sector. Therefore, S can be
tuned according to the network loading.
5.2.5 Simulation results

For S equals 0.5, the CDF of the chunk SINR on the scheduled chunks for coordinated and uncoordinated cases
are compared in Figure 5-3. The scheme with dynamic inter-cell coordination achieves 3-4 dB higher SINR (at
50th percentile) as the dominant interferers are avoided. Figure 5-4 shows the scatter plots (along with fitted
curves using cubic polynomial) of user throughput versus the distance of UTs from the base station. As
expected, it is observed that the scheme with interference avoidance using dynamic coordination offers up to
20% higher throughput to the distant UTs. The UTs at shorter distances are benefited as well due to the
absence of dominant interferers. Figure 5-5 and Figure 5-6 show CDF of SINR and UT data rates for S = 0.25,
where cell edge UTs receive up to 30% higher data rate when coordination is used.
Page 34 (85)
1
5
Probability (SINR <= Abscissa) 0.8 4.5
Throughput (Mbps)
4
0.6
3.5
0.4
3
No Coordination (Fitted)
0.2 2.5 No Coordination (Scatter)
Coordination Coordination (Fitted)
No Coordination 2 Coordination (Scatter)
0
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 100 200 300 400 500 600
SINR on Scheduled Chunks (dB) UT Distance (meters)
Figure 5-3: CDF of chunk SINR on scheduled Figure 5-4: Scatter plot of UT data rates (S = 0.5)
chunks (S = 0.5)
1
5
Probability (SINR <= Abscissa)
0.8 4.5
Throughput (Mbps)
4
0.6
3.5
0.4
3
No Coordination (Fitted)
0.2 2.5 No Coordination (Scatter)
Coordination Coordination (Fitted)
No Coordination 2 Coordination (Scatter)
0
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 100 200 300 400 500 600
SINR on Scheduled Chunks (dB) UT Distance (meters)
Figure 5-5: CDF of chunk SINR on scheduled Figure 5-6 :Scatter plot of UT data rates (S=0.25)
chunks (S=0.25)
5.2.6 Conclusions and recommendations

It is observed that proposed dynamic chunk allocation scheme with inter-cell coordination results better chunk
SINR, higher sector throughput, and up to 30% higher data rates to the cell-edge UTs. In order to reduce
inherent complexity of the dynamic scheme, the coordination can only be used for the cell/sector edge UTs.
The detailed studies with this reduced dimension of UTs along with simulations with different other S values
and network loadings remain for further work in the next stage of the project.
5.3 Decentralized Dynamic Channel Allocation
5.3.1 Description
The efficiency of dynamic channel allocation (DCA) algorithms is inevitably tied with their capability to deal
with the hidden and exposed node problems. One means to provide the transmitter with the relevant
information about the interference at the receiver has been identified by the busy-signal approach [HD02],
[OH04], [OHA07]. By letting receivers transmit either an out of band busy-tone [HD02] or an in-band busy-
signal in an associated mini-slot [OH04], [OHA07], two important goals are accomplished. First, the own
transmitter is informed about the level of interference at the receiver. Second, at the same time other nodes
intending to establish a transmission are notified about ongoing transmissions, so that these nodes can take
appropriate steps to avoid interference. Therefore, both channel sensing and reservation are accomplished, and
the hidden and exposed node problems are effectively mitigated. Since there is no central controller which
coordinates the individual links, network operation in a decentralized, self organized manner is maintained.
Page 35 (85)
Moreover, a method for interference management is established so that time-frequency slots (chunks) can be
dynamically assigned on a short-term basis. The protocol works in a completely decentralized fashion and can
therefore be applied to self-organizing networks which may consist of cellular as well as ad hoc network
topologies.
The attainable improvements of DCA are offset by the required additional signalling overhead, typically about
10% of the available bandwidth. On the other hand, instead of simply dismissing the busy-tone as overhead, an
alternative interpretation is to view the busy-tone as a feedback link from the receiver to the transmitter. With
the current development on highly adaptive communication systems that achieve a spectral efficiency close to
Shannon’s channel capacity, the provision of a reliable feedback link with low latency is becoming
increasingly important. To this end, various types of feedback information may be “piggy packed” on the busy-
tone. Examples for feedback information are: a retransmission protocol such as hybrid ARQ, or link adaptation
in the way that the receiver requests a change in the chosen transmission format.
Figure 5-7: MAC frame structure including in-band minislots for busy-tone signalling and low-rate
feedback
The MAC frame structure of the busy tone concept proposed in [HNO06] is depicted in Figure 5-7. Associated
to each chunk carrying data are so-called busy-slots dedicated to interference management and for low rate
feedback. So, any chunk scheduled for a certain UT has a busy-slot reserved for the feedback link from the
receiver to the transmitter. A busy-slot always occupies the same number of subcarriers as the corresponding
data chunk, but spans typically only over one OFDM symbol in time. The integration of BT-OFDMA to the
WINNER system concept, including the support of UL-DL channel asymmetries, is thoroughly described in
Appendix C.2.
5.3.1.1 Properties of the Busy-Tone Concept
The properties of the proposed busy-tone OFDMA (BT-OFDMA) are summarized as follows (More detailed
description is provided in Appendix C.2.2):
N Self-organised and decentralised interference management for arbitrary network topologies.
A mechanism for interference awareness and link protection is established (Æ C.2.2.1)
N Support of TDD uplink-downlink asymmetry ratios (Æ C.2.2.2)
N Network synchronization is required (Æ C.2.2.3)
N Complement not replacement of existing intra-cell scheduling policies (Æ C.2.2.4)
N Inherent “interference free” low-rate feedback mechanism to support link adaptation (Æ
C.2.2.5)
N Key enabler for cognitive radio networks (Æ C.2.2.6)
N Efficient support of various MIMO and SDMA approaches (Æ C.2.2.7)

The busy tone concept applied to OFDMA (BT-OFDMA) for the WINNER TDD mode is an inter-cellular
interference avoidance protocol. The algorithm effectively implements a dynamic and decentralized frequency
re-use scheme that is able to find the optimum frequency re-use pattern in a self-organized way, without any
need for central control and/or network planning.
N Signalling: The key requirement for this protocol is a time-multiplexed, low latency feedback channel.
This means that modifications in the WINNER frame structure would be necessary. On the other
hand, pilots often used to transfer CSI from receiver to transmitter could be readily used to implement
the protocol. Furthermore, the combination with a low-rate feedback channel results in a very efficient
Page 36 (85)
interference avoidance and link adaptation concept with low overhead. The BT-OFDMA can be
flexibly combined with multi-user MIMO, and it supports downlink-uplink channel asymmetries.
N Measurements: No dedicated measurements are needed. Rather the feedback link may be viewed as a
source to provide measurements on the intended as well as interfering links.
N Requirements: Inter-cellular time synchronization is required. As mentioned above, the adjustments of
frame structure of the WINNER system are required.
5.3.3 Complexity
The busy tone concept is of low complexity. Essentially, only the power of a time-multiplexed feedback
channel needs to be measured and compared to a fixed threshold
5.3.4 Scenarios and Simulation Assumptions
Decentralized chunk assignment is applicable to local and metropolitan area (LA and MA) scenarios, i.e.
scenarios utilizing the WINNER TDD mode. Extension to wide area (WA) with WINNER FDD mode is
feasible by taking the average of the chunks assignment equations (C.4) and (C.10) over frequency.
For the performance evaluation the MA urban micro-cell environment with two-dimensional regular grid of
buildings, known as Manhattan grid [WIN2D6137], [WIN2D111] was implemented (see Section C.2.3).
Transmitters (Tx) and receivers (Rx) located along the same street are modelled by a line of sight (LoS)
channel, while other links are modelled as non-line of sight (NLoS) channels. According the specifications in
[WIN2D111], channel model B1 LOS and B1 NLOS are used to simulate LoS and NLoS channels,
respectively. Only outdoor UTs served by outdoor BSs are considered.
Moreover, to demonstrate the flexibly support of arbitrary network topologies, a local area environment where
mobiles form a peer-to-peer network is also tested in Appendix C.2.4.
5.3.5 Simulation Results

Simulations are carried out for the metropolitan area (MA) urban micro-cell scenario for the WINNER TDD
mode. The simulator confirms to the requirements of the Class III simulator [WIN2D6137].
The cdf of the SINR distribution of scheduled chunks is shown in Figure 5-8. BT_OFDMA is plotted for
uplink (UL) as well as downlink (DL) with Ithre = -90dBm, and is compared with a fixed allocation scheme
without any interference protection. A significant improvement in SINR through application of the busy tone
concept is observed. For low SINR the improvement exceeds 10dB.
Figure 5-8: CDF of SINR distribution for BT-OFDMA. A fixed channel allocation scheme is drawn as a
benchmark.
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More simulation for Manhattan Grid as well as a local area peer-to-peer network can be found in Appendices
C.2.3 and C.2.4.
5.3.6 Recommendations
Significant gains in the CDF of the SINR and throughput are observed for MA deployment scenario with a
Manhattan Grid channel model. The attainable gains in terms of throughput however very much depend on the
scheduling algorithm being used. For the simulation results a simple score based scheduler was used, adaptive
modulation has not been implemented.
Generally, the efficiency of the proposed interference avoidance concept very much depends on the considered
deployment scenario. The Manhattan Grid channel model with its regular structure only a fraction of UTs are
exposed to strong inter-cell interference. The situation is to become worse when also indoor UTs served by
outdoor BSs are also taken into account. As for indoor UTs no favourable LoS channel exists, interference
might more difficult to manage, suggesting that advanced interference avoidance scheme could help to
significantly improve the spectral efficiency of the WINNER system.
The potential of BT-OFDMA is highlighted in an uncoordinated local area peer-to-peer network. Here a
threefold increase in throughput is achieved with respect to random slot allocation.
5.4 Cost function based scheduling
5.4.1 Description
Inter-cell interference mitigation by means of a cost function (CF) based scheduler is investigated in this
section. The allocation of UTs to resources is done by the scheduler that takes into consideration QoS of the
service, channel quality of the UTs (interference, path-loss) and data rate achieved by the UTs so far. This
scheduler evaluates a cost function for all eligible combinations of users and resources. The combinations
leading to a minimum cost function value are scheduled for transmission. In our investigations, we have
considered a cost function of the form
CF (u, ru ) W R R(u ) W I I (u, ru ) W L L (u, ru ) C , (1)
where W R , W I , W L and C are real-valued weights, u denotes the user and ru denotes the resource unit.
Further, R (u ) stands for the data rate achieved by the user u . The terms I (u , ru ) and L (u , ru ) represent
the interference and loss (geometrical path-loss, shadowing and fast-fading) measured by the user u on the
resource unit ru . The values of R (u ), I (u , ru ) and L (u , ru ) are normalized and
R(u ), I (u, ru ), L(u, ru ) 0,1 . Clearly, by changing the values of the weights WR ,WI ,WL and C , the
resource distribution and thus the inter-cell interference experienced by the UTs varies.
In order to obtain an optimal performance of scheduling even for different loads, it is necessary to
automatically adapt the values of WL , WI , W R and C . We present here a solution based on the LMS
algorithm that is widely used in signal processing, neural networks and machine learning. The actually
encountered network utility (Utilityn) is considered and the weights are updated according to the following
equation
CF
W (n 1) W (n) OUtility n ,
W
where O is a parameter ( 0 @ O @ 1 ) and Utilityn is the difference between the desired utility and the
actually encountered utility i.e. the number of the satisfied users and average data rate. A simple adaptation of
weights can be achieved by keeping weights W L W I 1 and C 0 fixed and changing the weight W R
according to
WR (n 1) WR (n) O PSU min PSU WR , O 0,1 (2)
where PSUmin is the minimum required percentage of satisfied users (90% in our case), PSU refers to the actual
percentage of satisfied users averaged over certain time period and O is a parameter controlling the speed of
parameter change. From equation (2) it can be seen that when PSU is above PSUmin the weight W R is
decreased. Consequently, the impact of the data rate on the cost function value obtained by (1) is lowered.. It
means that UTs with a higher channel gain (lower loss and interference) are scheduled more frequently, which
Page 38 (85)
increases the throughput in the system. When PSU is lower than PSUmin the weight WR increases. Therefore,
the probability that a user will be scheduled increases with the decreasing average data rate of the given user.
This increases the fairness in the system, represented by the PSU, but also reduces overall throughput.

The cost function based scheduler is a fully decentralized algorithm and needs neither signalisation among the
cells nor any special measures like inter-BS synchronisation. The scheduling decisions and weight updates are
made in each cell independent of other cells and are based entirely on locally available information.
If the scheduling is performed by the UTs, only weight parameters need to be broadcasted by the base stations
to the UTs. In the case of scheduling done by the base stations only the measurements of path-loss and
interference need to be signalled from the UTs to the base stations. However, this signalization is also required
by radio link maintenance and other radio resource management algorithms like link adaptation. This means
that there is no need to introduce additional signalling in the network for the purpose of the CF based
scheduler.
5.4.3 Complexity
The complexity of the CF based scheduler is linear in the number of UTs and resources to be scheduled. It
calculates the cost function for each UT on each free resource and schedules the UTs with the lowest cost
function value.
Note that the algorithm complexity of the CF based scheduler is significantly reduced in comparison to
searching for optimal channel allocation by exhaustive search. To see this, let us consider only one cell for
simplicity, which should schedule K out of N users ( K @ N ). For this simple case, the scheduler has the
freedom to select out of N ( N 1) ( N K 1) combinations (assuming that order of UT selection does
matter). Even in this simple case (with only one cell) it would require to evaluate O(N!) possibilities – which is
a prohibitive task in fast changing mobile environments. With the CF concept, the algorithm complexity is
reduced to polynomial time. The search for the minimum of the CF is performed for each UT, independent of
the other UTs in their own cell and other cells.
5.4.4 Scenarios
In the specified multi-cell environment, we use central-cell technique to account for the impact of surrounding
cells and inter-cell interference. All links are accurately modelled; however, the results are collected only from
three innermost cells. The system parameters are based on [WIN2D6137] for the base coverage urban scenario.
To reduce the overall simulation complexity, we reduce the total number of chunks specified in [WIN2D6133]
to 1/3. Therefore, in total 48 RUs are simulated.
Link adaptation is used to choose an appropriate modulation and coding scheme (MCS) from 10 different MCS
levels specified in Table 3-6 of [WIN2D6137]. We consider four different modulation schemes (BPSK, QPSK,
16-QAM and 64-QAM) and 3 possible code rates (1/2, 2/3 and 3/4) of block LDPC codes.
We consider perfect time and frequency synchronization at system level, and thus any inter-symbol or inter-
carrier interference is neglected.
We summarize specific simulation parameters in Table 5-1:
Table 5-1: Simulation Assumptions
Channel model C2
UT velocity 3 km/h
Multiple access OFDMA
Central cell Yes
Interference modelling All links modelled
Transmission mode frequency adaptive transmission
Traffic model Realistic FTP model
Scheduler Proportional Fair, Best CQI,
Adaptive CF based
Measurements and Signalling Ideal channel information
Retransmission / HARQ Yes
BS Antenna 4 elements Grid of Beams
MS Antenna 2 RX antennas, MRC
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5.4.5 Simulations
In Figure 5-9 and Table 5-2 we depicted end-to-end (E2E) user throughput for three scheduling algorithms:
best CQI, proportional fair and adaptive CF based. As can be seen, unlike best CQI scheduler the adaptive CF
based scheduler is able to keep the percentage of unsatisfied users (users having data rate below 300 kbps)
below the required threshold (10 %). At the same time the adaptive scheduler achieves higher throughput than
the proportional fair scheduler (although slightly higher probability of achieving very low data rates).
Figure 5-9: E2E throughput CDF for different scheduling algorithms.
Table 5-2: E2E throughput and percentage of unsatisfied users for different schedulers
Mean E2E throughput [kbps] Unsatisfied users [%]
Proportional Fair 532.22 7.43

Adaptive CF based 879.27 8.31
Best CQI 1140.53 18.25
The adaptive CF based scheduler combines the advantages of two scheduling algorithms: “fairness” provided
by proportional fair and “throughput optimization” provided by best CQI.
Scheduler algorithms make a trade-off between fairness and maximizing total system throughput. Fairness is
improved by increasing the weight of UT’s data rate in the cost function. On the other hand, throughput is
improved by increasing the weight of UT’s channel quality. For lower loads almost all UTs could achieve their
minimum data rates, so higher channel quality should be emphasized in scheduling decisions.. For higher loads
however, the achieved data rate should be emphasized, in order to ensure at least the minimum number of
satisfied users. Trade-off between maximizing data rate and providing minimum data rate with high probability
depends also on service type i.e. QoS requirements. That is why the optimal scheduling setting should be
chosen according to load and QoS requirements. We provided above a cost function based scheduler algorithm
with self-adaptive weight setting. By using the proposed algorithm parameters are adapted automatically to
reflect the time varying nature of load conditions.
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5.5 QoS Scheduling with Inter-cell Interference Awareness
5.5.1 Description of Scheme

The Token Bank Fair Queuing algorithm (TBFQ) is a credit based scheduling scheme. It was designed to take
into account the impairments which usually affect a wireless channel and accommodate the bursty nature of
traffic such that QoS is maintained. This is done by scheduling the UTs in a certain manner such that those
suffering from bad channel conditions receive a higher priority. For example, a cell edge UT experiencing high
interference will receive a higher priority to transmit. Another important feature of this scheme is its ability to
differentiate between various traffic service types. Parameters for Real time and non-real time traffic (based on
the network loading) can be defined in the algorithm such that the QoS requirements concerning interflow
fairness, delays and priorities are satisfied.
This scheme cannot be considered implicitly as an interference avoidance method but more as an interference
coping method. Detailed description of the scheme is provided in the Appendix C.3. The performance of this
scheme is compared to that of the baseline Score based (SB) scheduler.
5.5.2 Impact on Signalling
This scheduling scheme can operate in both coordinated / uncoordinated scenarios without additional
signalling. Short term CQI is required at the BS for every UT in every chunk. The constraints on chunks due to
the constraint processing and resource partitioning functions will not add to the overhead of the scheme.
5.5.3 Complexity
The complexity of the TBFQ scheduler is defined by three operations: enqueing, dequeing and the Priority
calculation function. The enqueing function is executed whenever a new packet arrives at a flow. Whether the
packet belongs to an existing queue or to a new one, it will be identified and appended to the end of the
appropriate queue. This operation has a complexity of O(1). The dequeing function is independent from the
enqueing function. Although there is a priority operation to be determined by sorting which is computed once
during each scheduling interval, the sorting is not computed on a per packet basis but rather on a per flow
basis. Therefore when a packet is dequeing is of a complexity of O(1) also. The quicksort function is used to
calculate the priorities and the complexity of that on the average is O(nlogn).
5.5.4 Scenario and Simulation Assumption
This scheme is studied in the wide area down link scenario. To reduce the simulation complexity, the
bandwidth is reduced to 15 MHz i.e. there are a total of 96 chunks per frame. Traffic model for video
streaming is considered. Packets are dropped if the queuing delay exceeds 190msec. Further details of the
simulation are provided in Appendix C.3.3.
5.5.5 Results
The following results show a comparison between TBFQ algorithm and the Score Based (SB) algorithm with
window sizes of 100 and 1000. Since the interference model being shown here is obtained by the brute force
method, therefore different levels of interference form the first tier are shown defined by different activity
factors (AF). An AF is defined as the percentage of active interferers. AF of 1 denotes a high level of
interference where all the links are being interfered at (100% interference). Figure 5-10 compares the CDF of
the scheduled SINR for TBFQ and SB for 20 UTs at an AF of 0.7. Since maximum SINR method is used to
assign chunks to the selected UTs, therefore in the early part of the scheduling interval, best chunks are
allocated to the scheduled UTs. That’s why a higher SINR is seen beyond the 60th percentile for TBFQ as
compared to SB. As more chunks are scheduled, we see a decrease in the SINR.
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Figure 5-10: CDF of SINR on scheduled Chunks Figure 5-11: Sector Throughput
Figure 5-12: CDF of average user throughput (Bytes Figure 5-13: CDF of average user throughput
per frame) for low loading (Bytes per frame) for high loading
We see the sector throughput with an AF of 0.7 in Figure 5-11. TBFQ performs better at lower-medium
loading levels. But as the number of UTs approaches 20, SB with a window size of 1000 achieves higher
throughput. This is because SB is opportunistic in nature whereas TBFQ tries to maintain fairness. As the
number of UTs increase, SB takes advantage of the multi-user diversity to achieve higher throughput. Figure
5-12 and Figure 5-13 shows the CDF of average user throughput (bytes per frame) for 8 and 20 UTs
respectively. TBFQ performs better for the lower loading case whereas SB achieves higher throughput at
higher loading.
The CDF of the queuing delay is shown in Figure 5-14 and Figure 5-15 for 8 and 20 UTs respectively. As the
traffic type considered for this study is video, therefore packets are dropped if they face a queuing delay of
more than 0.19 seconds. Therefore the queuing delay does not exceed beyond 0.19 sec. TBFQ has a better
delay performance than SB at both lower and higher loading.
Figure 5-16 shows the packet transmit ratio (defined as the packets transmitted/total packets) vs. distance from
BS for 20 UTs. It can be observed that as the distance increases, the packet transmit ratio for SB decreases i.e.
the number of dropped packets increases. This can be further visualized by the fitted curves for both algorithms
which show their respective trends with the varying distance. As SB tries to maximize the throughput, the cell
edge UTs are affected and suffer packet losses. TBFQ on the other hand is fair in nature and tries to also look
after the cell edge UTs. If a cell edge UT is suffering from bad channel conditions, TBFQ gives it priority to
transmit in the next scheduling interval. By assigning priorities in such a manner, TBFQ also keeps track of the
queue levels and tries to maintain constant queuing delay for the cell edge UTs as shown in Figure 5-17. The
same cannot be said for SB as the average UT queuing delay increases exponentially with the distance. The
odd discrepancies in the scatter plots could be explained due to shadowing.
Page 42 (85)
Further results shown in Appendix C.3.4 demonstrate the average queuing delay and the average packets
dropped plotted against varying number of UTs and activity factors.
Figure 5-14: CDF of average user queuing delay for Figure 5-15: CDF of average user queuing delay for
low (left) and high loading (right) low (left) and high loading (right)
1 0.1
SB(1000)
0.09
0.9
TBFQ
0.08 Fitted curve TBFQ
Ratio Packets Transmitted
Fitted Curve SB
0.8 0.07
Delay (sec)
0.06
0.7
0.05
0.6
0.04
0.5 0.03
SB(1000)
0.02
TBFQ
0.4
Fitted Curve SB 0.01
Fitted Curve TBFQ
0
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 100 200 300 400 500 600 700
Distance From BS (m) Distance From BS (m)
Figure 5-16: Ratio of packets transmitted vs. distance Figure 5-17: Average user queuing delay vs.
from BS for 20 UTs case distance from BS for 20 UTs case
The Score Based (SB) scheduler is an opportunistic scheduler belonging to the proportional fair class. It tries to
maximize throughput making use of multi-user diversity while trying to maintain fairness. But this comes at a
certain cost as in this scheme the cell edge UTs suffering from bad channel conditions are more severely
affected. Also due to the bursty nature of traffic such UTs face higher queuing delays which results in higher
packet drops. Compared to SB, TBFQ is a credit based scheme which tries to accommodate the burstiness of
traffic for those UTs by assigning them more resources in the short term provided that long term fairness is
maintained. For lower to medium loading, TBFQ performs better than SB in terms of throughput, queuing
delay and packet dropping. At high loading TBFQ still performs better than SB with regards to the queuing
delay and packet dropping while the throughput is comparable.
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6. Recommendations for inter-cell interference avoidance

In the previous chapters 4 and 5 the techniques selected for inter-cell interference avoidance have been
classified in two main families: Resource management and partitioning on one side and Resource allocation
and scheduling on the other side. Each of these techniques has been assessed according to the methodology
described in chapter 3 by using common assessment criteria. In addition their possible impact on the System
Architecture has been addressed as well as potential complexity increases.
The purpose of the present chapter is to recapitulate these assessment results, taking into account the
corresponding context established for the assessment like WINNER II evaluation scenarios and the
corresponding simulation assumptions and parameters, then to give first recommendations for inter-cell
interference avoidance also possibly in combination with other mitigation techniques.
The resource management and partitioning techniques have been evaluated for the WINNER II Base Coverage
Urban scenario.
The investigations conducted on the static schemes for resource management based on transmit power
restriction showed that the Fractional Frequency Re-use with Full power Isolation (FFR FI) allows significant
throughput improvements at the cell border but at the expense of non-negligible sector throughput degradation.
It is therefore recommended to use this scheme for data transmission when the network load remains in a low
to medium range, where such degradation can be afforded, in order to enhance the user experience at the cell-
edge. Nevertheless, FFR FI may be used for control channels, in particular the BCH which is transmitted in the
preamble of the super-frame, while retaining the full set of resources available for data transmission. However,
this approach sets requirements on the network time-synchronisation, since the super-frame transmission then
needs to be time-aligned across neighbouring cells. In addition, the FFR FI scheme appears an efficient
solution when powerful beamforming techniques such as the Grid of Beams can not be used.
It should also be mentioned that a tight interplay exists between the scheduler and the transmit power
restriction schemes themselves. A first attempt to define scheduling policies prioritizing the cell-edge UTs into
the sub-bands with lower interference levels has shown the interest of this approach. Further studies should
consequently investigate this interplay deeper in order to reveal the full potential of this kind of resource
management techniques. Moreover, the impact of non Full Buffer traffic models on their performance should
be further addressed as well. In particular, preliminary results on the IFC scheme with cell specific power
reduction have shown significant gains when used with a type of scheduler more suitable for real time data
traffic than the Score Based Proportional Fair.
Concerning resource partitioning, a technique based on Flexible re-use has been proposed in order to allow the
resource re-use to be adjusted dynamically in a hybrid combination with other interference mitigation
techniques. Depending on the network load and local interference environment, the Flexible re-use Partitioning
can configure the resource partitioning from pure re-use 1 to fractional re-use values. This procedure is applied
without any coordination in a first step, then with decentralized coordination among the neighbouring BSs.
Centralized coordination can then be used at the last resort in order to enforce partitioning decisions if
decentralized mechanisms have failed. Note that this last option requires a centralized entity in the network,
while the coordination itself requires BS to BS communications.
For the selected self-adaptive re-use partitioning technique the evaluations have shown that either the
interference-based variant with re-use 1 (ISARP) or the variant with re-use 3 at the cell border (R3SARP) can
be recommended for the cases which need additional gain e.g. for the VoIP service. This would also hold for
other real-time services (e.g. streaming) or when the load increases in the network. This technique works in
a decentralized manner and therefore does not require any additional inter-BS coordination.
The WINNER II Base Coverage Urban scenario has been investigated as well for most of the selected
resource allocation and scheduling techniques; the corresponding outcome is summarized here:
Given its inherent algorithm complexity the use of the dynamic chunk allocation scheme based on inter-cell
coordination should be reserved to the cell/sector edge UTs only. The additional requirements on the System
Architecture for a central controller have also to be taken into account here.
Furthermore a cost based scheduler algorithm with self-adaptive weight settings is recommended in order to
maximize the total system throughput and keep at the same time the percentage of unsatisfied users below the
predefined limit. The scheduler optimizes itself for different loads and service types by self-adaptive parameter
settings.
Additionally the Token Bank Fair Queuing (TBFQ) scheduler can represent an alternative to the Score Based
scheduler: for lower to medium load the sector throughput, queuing delay and packet dropping are improved;
for high load queuing delay and packet dropping are still improved whereas the sector throughput remains
comparable. However, the TBFQ degrades the cell-edge throughput for low loads compared to the Score Based
Page 44 (85)
scheduler; therefore, it should be assessed whether the benefits brought by the TBFQ algorithm are worth this
cell-edge throughput degradation for low loads.
The WINNER II Metropolitan Area scenario has been addressed in the TDD mode for the decentralized
dynamic Channel Allocation based on the ‘busy signal’ concept. The scheme utilizes the channel reciprocity of
the WINNER TDD mode and establishes a decentralized resource reservation protocol that effectively
mitigates excessive inter-cell interference. The performance has been assessed for MA Manhattan Grid
deployment scenario and for a LA self-organized peer-to-peer network. Another important application is
dynamic spectrum sharing. In general the scheme is applicable to a distributed system architecture without
a centralized controller and without sophisticated network planning.
Consequently the investigations conducted for the resource management and partitioning techniques in the
Base Coverage Urban scenario for wide area show that for user data transmission (especially non-real time
data) frequency re-use 1 provides maximal network capacity under a given outage probability. On the other
side, for more sensitive data like signalization or high priority real-time data or in the case of network
congestion, frequency re-use values greater than one may be employed at least at the cell border in order to
ensure some guaranteed signal quality for all UTs.
Furthermore the assessment of the selected resource allocation and scheduling algorithms show that there is no
“optimal algorithm” for all cases. Parameterized scheduling algorithms are therefore recommended here which
are able to adapt their parameters to different loads, interference and QoS requirements
For the TDD mode used in the Metropolitan area scenario as well as in Local Area ones resource allocation can
be achieved by the generation of ‘busy signals’ on the desired spectrum by BS or UT. This is especially useful
in distributed architectures without a centralized controller.
Inter-cell interference avoidance techniques can be advantageously combined with other mitigation schemes:
Interference Rejection Combining (IRC) at UT side [WIN2D473] can still bring performance improvements on
both cell edge and sector throughput when used in addition to the FFR FI technique. It is also expected that the
combination of FFR schemes with the inter-cell interference cancellation techniques studied in [WIN2D471]
will exhibit a similar behaviour, although performance results are not available for the combination of these
schemes.
Furthermore, the interference coordination schemes in general should be used in cases where the fixed Grid of
Beams [WIN2D473] cannot be employed, e.g. for common channels, due to the degradation caused by the
interference coordination schemes on the performance of the fixed Grid of Beams when combined together.
The recommendations given in this chapter have to be seen together with the ones indicated for interference
averaging [WIN2D471] and for interference mitigation with smart antennas [WIN2D473] in order to complete
the picture for the whole WINNER System.
7. Summary and conclusions

This document has focussed on the assessment of inter-cell interference avoidance techniques in the context of
WINNER II. The selected techniques have been classified in two families: resource management and
partitioning on one side and resource allocation and scheduling on the other side, and described in detail. The
assessment methodology chosen for the investigations has been addressed, taking into account the specific
aspects of System Level computer simulations for classes II (dynamic behaviour of the system) and III (quasi-
static behaviour) simulators. Furthermore traffic models corresponding to real-time services like video
streaming have been considered and common assessment criteria defined. Additionally the potential impacts of
the investigated techniques on the WINNER II System Architecture and functionality have been assessed as
well as their complexity.
Most of the techniques have been evaluated in the WINNER II Base Coverage Urban scenario; some
investigations have also been conducted for the WINNER II Metropolitan Area scenario and the special cases
which can be derived for the Local Area deployment. Detailed assessment results have been given for each
selected inter-cell avoidance technique according to the defined assessment criteria.
The assessment results obtained for each technique have been then recapitulated also in the light of the
evaluation scenario considered and its associated simulation assumptions and parameters. Together with the
potential impacts on the System Architecture and complexity issues this has led to first recommendations for
inter-cell avoidance techniques also to some extent in combination with some other inter-cell interference
mitigation techniques like interference averaging [WIN2D471] and the use of smart antennas [WIN2D473].
In order to complete the picture for the whole inter-cell interference mitigation further combinations of the
techniques and their refinements have to be addressed; this will be the goal of the work in the remaining phase
of WINNER II.
Page 45 (85)
8. References
[Bla01] P. M. Blair, G. C. Polyzos, M. Zorzi, “Plane Cover Multiple Access: A New Approach to
Maximizing Cellular System Capacity,” IEEE JSAC, VOL. 19, NO. 11, pp. 2131-2141, Nov.
2001
[BrAs05] K. Brueninghaus, D. Astely, et. al. 'Link Performance Models for System Level Simulations of
Broadband Radio Access Systems,' IEEE Proc. of PIMRC, September 2005
[Hal83] S. W. Halpern, “Reuse partitioning in cellular systems,” IEEE Trans. Vehic. Technol., pp. 322–
327, 1983
[HD02] Z. J. Haas and J. Deng, “Dual Busy Tone Multiple Access (DBTMA) - A Multiple Access
Control Scheme for Ad Hoc Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 50, no. 6,
pp. 975–985, June 2002.
[HNO06] H. Haas, V. D. Nguyen, P. Omiyi, N. H. Nedev, and G. Auer, “Interference Aware Medium
Access in Cellular OFDMA/TDD Network,” in Proc. IEEE Int. Conference on
Communications (ICC 2006),.Istanbul, Turkey, June 2006.
[OH04] P. Omiyi and H. Haas, “Improving Time-Slot Allocation in 4th Generation OFDM/TDMA
TDD Radio Access Networks With Innovative Channel-Sensing,” in Proc. IEEE IEEE Int.
Conference on Communications (ICC 2004), Paris, France, June 2004, pp. 3133–3137.
[OHA07] P. Omiyi, H. Haas, and G. Auer, “Analysis of TDD Cellular Interference Mitigation using
Busy-Bursts,” in IEEE Transactions Wireless Communications, July 2007.
[R1050272] OFDM air interface with QoS at cell edge, Alcatel, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #40bis, Beijing,
China, April 2005
[R1050841] 3GPP R1-050841, “Further Analysis of Soft Frequency Reuse Scheme”, Huawei, RAN1#42,
September 2005.
[R1060864] Overview of Resource Management techniques for Interference Mitigation in EUTRA, Texas
Instruments, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #44bis, Athens, Greece, March 2006
[R1062365] Comparison of efficiency of DL Interference Coordination schemes and view on measurements
on intra-frequency neighbour cells, Alcatel, 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 #46, Tallinn, Estonia,
September 2006
[TAB06] A. Tyrrell, G. Auer and C. Bettstetter, “Fireflies as Role Models for Synchronization in Ad
Hoc Networks”, in Proc. Int. Conf. Bio-Insp. Models of Network, Info. and Comp. Sys.
(BIONETICS 2006), Cavalese, Italy, Dec. 2006.
[WIN1D35] IST-2003-507581 WINNER I deliverable D3.5 “Proposal of the best Suited Deployment
Concepts for the identified Scenarios and related RAN Protocols”, December 2005.
[WIN1D63] IST-2003-507581 WINNER I deliverable D6.3 “WINNER Spectrum Aspects: Assessment
report”, December 2005.
[WIN2D111] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D1.1.1 “WINNER II interim channel models”,
February 2007
[WIN2D341] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D3.4.1 “The WINNER II Air Interface: Refined
Spatial-Temporal Processing Solutions”, November 2006
[WIN2D352] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D3.5.2 “Assessment of relay based deployment
concepts”, June 2007
[WIN2D471] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D4.7.1 “Interference averaging concepts”, June 2007
[WIN2D473] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D4.7.3 “Smart antenna based interference mitigation”,
June 2007
[WIN2D482] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D4.8.2 “Cooperation schemes validation”, June 2007
[WIN2D6111] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D6.11.1 “Refined WINNER II System Requirements”,
June 2007
[WIN2D6131] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D6.13.1 “WINNER II Test Scenarios and Calibration
Cases Issue 1”, June 2006
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[WIN2D6133] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D6.13.3 “Intermediate concept proposal (“wide area”)
and evaluation”, November 2006
[WIN2D6134] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D6.13.4 “Intermediate concept proposal (“metropolitan
area”) and evaluation”, November 2006
[WIN2D6137] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D6.13.7 “WINNER II Test scenarios and calibration
cases Issue 2”, December.2006
[WIN2D6138] IST-4-027756 WINNER II deliverable D6.13.8 “Intermediate WINNER II System Concept”,
November 2006
[ZK01] J. Zander, S-L. Kim et al. “Radio resource Management for Wireless Networks”, Artech
House, 2001
[802.20EC] IEEE 802.20: Evaluation Criteria, Version 15, 30.03.2005, Eval_Criteria_ver15r1-track-
changes.doc
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Appendix A. System-level inter-cell interference modelling
A.1 Introduction
When analyzing or assessing the performance of a radio network it is typically not sufficient to study the
performance of a single radio link. Instead, one would like to assess the overall network performance,
accounting for that several pairs of communicating nodes must share a common radio resource. For instance, in
a cellular network it must be considered that the resources in a cell are shared among all UTs associated with
the cell and it is further of great importance to account for interference from neighbouring cells. Multi-cell
evaluations of cellular networks are often performed by computer simulations, here referred to as system-level
simulations.
System-level simulations include, among others, deployment models, UT behaviour models, and channel
models. They further comprise models of the network functionality and the radio network algorithms. The
deployment models consider e.g. the base station density, the base station equipment, and the base station
antenna positions (below or above roof-tops etc.). UT behaviour models include models for the UT position,
the UT mobility, and the traffic generated by the UT (in uplink and downlink). Channel models model the
radio channel of desired and interfering links.
Furthermore, in a system level simulation it is typically so that there is no explicit modelling of physical layer
procedures such as modulation and coding. Instead, less complex link performance models are used to estimate
the performance of single links. Such a link performance model is often referred to as a link-to-system
interface. The link-to-system interface needs as input a measure of the radio link quality and delivers as output
an estimate of the packet error probability. Often, the SINR is used as a measure of the radio link quality,
which means that system level simulations must include the calculation of the received SINR. Here we can
distinguish between actual value interfaces, where the SINR depends on the fast fading realizations of the
channel [BrAs05], and average value interfaces, where channel quality metrics are an average of the
instantaneous SINRs over the fast fading.
The next chapter in this Appendix describes different methods and models that may be used in multi-cell
system level simulations. Two different options to set-up a multi-cell system simulation that accounts for
interference from neighbouring cells are discussed.
A.2 Multi-cell simulation setup

Real-world radio networks may comprise a very large number of cells. For example, some cellular networks
have basically nation-wide coverage and comprise hundreds or thousands of base stations. Cells in such radio
networks are hence often surrounded by, and experience interference from, other cells and it is essential to
capture the impact of such inter-cell interference in radio network analysis and assessment work.
In practice, when analyzing radio networks by means of computer simulation it is only possible to model a
limited number of cells. That is, the considered system layout is limited and the cells in the outer parts of the
modelled network are not surrounded by cells on all sides. The interference situation in these cells differs
significantly from the interference experienced in the central part of the network where cells are surrounded by
interfering cells on all sides. The performance of such a network is hence not representative of a large real-
world network in which basically all cells experience interference from all directions.
There exists two popular techniques to account for the impact of surrounding cells and inter-cell interference,
namely the central-cell technique and the wrap-around technique. These two techniques are described in detail
in the two sections below.
A.2.1 Central cell technique

In the central cell technique, the system statistics are collected only in the central part of the simulated multi-
cell layout. This is typically the central cell in an omni-directional layout, or the three sectors of the central cell
in a tri-sectored layout. Here, only the system functions of the central cell and the associated terminals are
simulated in detail, while the remaining cells are accounted for via simplified models.
Compared to a multi-cell simulation where UTs are generated in multiple cells, e.g. using the wrap-around
technique (see next section A.2.2), the central cell technique allows considerable savings in memory
resources, as only a reduced number of links needs to be monitored and managed at the same time. From the
simulation duration perspective, however, the central-cell technique may be equivalent to a multi-cell
simulation using the wrap-around technique since more snapshots of UT locations are needed to collect the
Page 48 (85)
same number of statistics on UTs within the central cell, compared to collecting data from UTs studied
simultaneously within a larger number of cells.
The central cell technique is particularly suited to the downlink, as it avoids the explicit simulation of the UTs
in the neighbouring cells. Indeed, the interference situation can here be generated accurately by simulating the
transmitted signal from the neighbouring base stations only. In the uplink, however, where the interference is
created by the signals transmitted from the UTs in neighbouring cells, an accurate modelling of their positions,
transmit powers and channels towards the base station of interest cannot be avoided in most cases. Hence the
savings in simulator complexity may be much lower in the uplink case, which may decrease the interest of this
method with respect to a full multi-cell simulation using the wrap-around technique.
A.2.2 Wrap-around technique

The use of wrap-around, described e.g. in [ZK01], is one way to overcome the limitation of a limited system.
With wrap-around the cell layout is folded such that cells on the right side of the network are connected with
cells on the left side and, similarly, cells in the upper part of the network get connected to cells in the lower
part. The created area may be seen as borderless, but with a finite surface, and it may be visualized as a torus
[ZK01].
In practice, wrap-around may be implemented by creating six copies of the studied network deployment and
placing these copies around the original network, see e.g. [802.20EC] or Figure A-1 below which shows an
example of the wrap-around technique in which a hexagonal cell layout comprising 19 base stations with 120
degrees cell sectors is considered. In this example, each base station is located at the centre of one hexagon
with one transceiver per sector. In an inter-cell interference scenario each transceiver is considered as an
interferer to other victims. There is a one-to-one mapping between cells/sectors of the centre network and
cells/sectors of each copy, so that every cell in the extended network is identified with one of the cells in the
central (original) hexagonal network. Those corresponding cells have thus the same antenna configuration,
traffic, fading etc., as illustrated in Figure A-1 below. Hence, every base station in the original network has one
and only one corresponding base station in each of the copies and the channel between a UT and a base station
may now be determined by calculating the channel between the UT of interest and all seven base stations – the
base station in the original cell layout and one base station in each of the six copies. Among the seven
calculated channels, the one with the lowest attenuation is selected for further use. Typically, the selection is
performed based on long-term channel information including distance attenuation, shadow fading, and antenna
gains. Short-term channel variations caused by multi-path propagation and fast fading may later be added to
get a full representation of the frequency-selective channel.
D
J
11
D D E D
11 12 10
J J J
D E D D E D E D
J
12 J
10 J
13 J
3 J
9
D E D E D E D E D E
13 3 9 4 2
J J J J J
E D E D E D E D E D
4 2 14 1 8
J J J J J
D E D E D E D E D E
J
14 J
1 J
8 5 J
7
J
E D E D E D - D E D
5 7 15 6 19
J J J J J
D - D E D E D E D E D
J
15 J
6 J
19 J
16 J
18 11
J
E D E D E D E D E D E D
16 18 11 17 12 10
J J J J J J
D E D E D E D E D E D E D
11 17 12 10 13 3 9
J J J J J J J
D E D E D E D E D E D E D E
12 10 J
13 J
3 J
9 J
4 J
2
J J
D E D E D E D E D E D E D E D
13 3 9 4 2 14 1 8
J J J J J J J J
E D E D E D E D E D E D E D E
4 2 14 1 8 5 7
J J J J J J J
D E D E D E D E D E D - D E D
14 1 8 J
5 J
7 J
15 J
6 J
19
J J J
E D E D E D - D E D E D E D E
5 7 15 6 19 16 18
J J J J J J J
D - D E D E D E D E D E D E
15 6 19 16 18 11 17
J J J J J J J
E D E D E D E D E D E D E
16 18 J
11 J
17 J
12 J
10
J J
E D E D E D E D E D E D
17 12 10 13 3 9
J J J J J J
E D E D E D E D E D E
13 3 9 4 2
J J J J J
E D E D E D E D E D
J
4 J
2 J
14 J
1 J
8
D E D E D E D E D E
14 1 8 5 7
J J J J J
E D E D E D - D E D
J
5 J
7 J
15 J
6 J
19
D - D E D E D E D E
15 6 19 16 18
J J J J J
E D E D E E D E
16 18 17
J J J
E D E E
J
17
E
Figure A-1: Illustration of the wrap-around technique.
Page 49 (85)
Note that Figure A-1 shows transceivers equipped with sector antennas but they may also be equipped with
beamforming antennas.
The wrap-around technique is suitable both for downlink and uplink simulations. An advantage compared to
the central-cell technique is that simulation data can be collected from all cells, which may reduce the required
simulation time to collect sufficient statistics.
Page 50 (85)
Appendix B. Resource management and partitioning
B.1 Resource management by transmit power restriction schemes
B.1.1 IFC through cell-specific transmit power reduction

B.1.1.1 Description
A further description of this IFC scheme which has been addressed in section 4.2.1 is given here.
Figure B-1 illustrates the concept for a frequency re-use of 7 for the cell- specific transmit power restriction:
each of the 21 sectors is represented with the index identifying the reduced frequency sub-set assigned to it,
following a re-use 7 repartition. The whole transmission bandwidth is divided accordingly in 7 frequency sub-
sets and for each sector one of them has its transmission power reduced by 10 dB compared to the six other
ones. This scheme is also called re-use 7/6 and corresponds in total to a power reduction in 1/7 of the available
frequency resources.
2 6
3 7
7 4
4 1 5
5 2 6
2 6 3
3 7
4 1
1 5
Figure B-1: IFC scheme with frequency re-use 7/6 for the power reduced frequency subsets
B.1.1.2 Simulation assumptions

The main simulation assumptions for the investigations have been presented in section 4.2.5.1 and correspond
to the baseline defined in [WIN2D6137] whereby some different choices were made. They are summarized in
Table B-1:
Table B-1: Simulation assumptions
Deployment scenario WINNER II Base Coverage Urban

Channel model C2
Wrap-around technique yes
Number of sectors 21
Number of mobiles per sector 10 in average
UT velocity 3 km/h, 30 km/h
UT Receiver diversity MRC
Link adaptation ideal
HARQ / max number of re-transmissions Yes / 4
MCS 27 schemes used: 10 for QPSK, 9 for 16QAM, 8
for 64QAM
Turbo codes
Multiple Access scheme OFDMA
Scheduler Score based proportional fair
Traffic model Full buffer
Page 51 (85)
B.1.1.3 Simulation results

The main results on the performance of this IFC scheme for different cases have been addressed in section
4.2.5.1 of this document. Further ones are given in Table B-2 below for the comparison with the situation
without IFC (corresponding to a frequency re-use value of 1) in the case of UT velocity 3 km/h
Table B-2: comparison of IFC 7/6, 3/2 and 3/1 with the case of frequency re-use 1
no IFC IFC 7/6 IFC 3/2 IFC 3/1

Cell edge user
throughput (Mb/s) 2.42 2.43 2.23 1.79
Average sector
throughput (Mb/s) 84.48 77.57 67.34 62.97
Sector spectral
efficiency (b/s/Hz) 1.69 1.55 1.35 1.26
B.1.1.4 Further investigations

This section shows preliminary results obtained when addressing a further variant of the Base Coverage Urban
scenario indicated in [WIN2D6133] with a scheduling algorithm which allocates the resources by targeting a
given minimum throughput value per served UT while taking the IFC scheme into account.
The simulations were conducted for a total number of 57 sectors organized in two hexagonal layers whereby
the first hexagon layer itself built out 21 sectors was taken into account for the evaluations. 30 UTs per sector
in average were considered with velocity values of 3 and 30 km/h and assuming a full buffer traffic model.
The variant of the WA deployment scenario at 2GHz with 10 MHz bandwidth is taken as first evaluation
scenario for these investigations with a modelled basic antenna configuration Tx: 1 Rx: 2 for the downlink.
Furthermore ideal link adaptation including a max number of 4 HARQ retransmissions and a target BLER of
50% are assumed.
The results obtained for the IFC scheme using re-use values of 7/6 and 3/2 compared with the situation given
without IFC (re-use value of 1) are shown in Figure B-2 below first for UT velocity 3 km/h:
UT velocity 3 km/h
0.50
5% CDF av user TP (b/s/Hz)
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15 IFC 7/6
0.10 IFC 3/2
0.05 NoIFC
0.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60 1.80
av sector TP (b/s/Hz)
Figure B-2: Performance of the IFC scheme (3 km/h)
The 5% CDF User throughput decreases and the mean sector throughput increases when this minimum
throughput value decreases (from left to right in the figure). The saturation observed on the left side of the
figure corresponds to the lack of additional resources needed to maintain the high targeted minimum
throughput value for the served UTs. For lower values on the right side of the figure the IFC performance
decreases (last measurement points corresponds to a target of 20 kbps) since in those cases less resources are
allocated to cell border UTs.
Page 52 (85)
Furthermore the results show that with this IFC scheme a frequency re-use value of 7/ 6 performs better than
value 3/2 (more frequency resources are available in the first case) and that the improvement area compared to
the IFC case is wider for a re-use 7 than a re-use 3.
The measurements points correspond to the parameterization of the scheduler with values for the targeted
minimum throughput per served UT decreasing from 220 kbps to 20 kbps in 20 kbps steps from the left to the
right in the figure. The point where saturation occurs in this case of low UT velocity corresponds for both
frequency re-use values to 160 kb/s for the minimum target throughput.
Table B-3 below gives the corresponding values for the cell edge user throughput as well as the average sector
throughput:
Table B-3: comparison of the IFC scheme with re-use 1 (3km/h)
No IFC IFC 3/2 IFC 7/6

Cell edge user
throughput (5%) (b/s/Hz) 0.40 0.44 0.47
Average sector
throughput (b/s/Hz) 0.77 0.82 1.06
Further investigations have been conducted with UT velocity 30 km/h instead of 3 km/h; the corresponding
results are presented below in Figure B-3 and Table B-4, whereby degradation in overall performance occurs
as expected:
UT velocity 30 km/h
0.30
5% CDF av user TP (b/s/Hz)
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
IFC 7/6
0.05 IFC 3/2
NoIFC
0.00
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 1.40 1.60
av sector TP (b/s/Hz)
Figure B-3: Performance of the IFC scheme (30 km/h)
The point where saturation is reached corresponds to 100 kb/s in these measurements for higher UT velocity
which is lower than the previous value (140 kb/s).
Table B-4 below gives the corresponding values for the cell edge user throughput as well as the average sector
throughput:
Table B-4: comparison of the IFC scheme with re-use 1 (30 km/h)
No IFC IFC 3/2 IFC 7/6

Cell edge user
throughput (5%) (b/s/Hz) 0.25 0.28 0.29
Average sector
throughput (b/s/Hz) 0.56 0.71 0.80
Page 53 (85)
B.1.2 Fractional frequency re-use & impact of prioritization schemes

This appendix complements the description and results given in Section 4.2.5.2. Section B.1.2.1 illustrates the
bandwidth allocation used in the Fractional Frequency Re-use (FFR) schemes with full (FI) and partial
isolation (PI). The detailed simulation assumptions are given in Section B.1.2.2. Section B.1.2.3 complements
the simulation assumptions regarding the mode of operation of the scheduler used for these performance
assessments. At last, Section B.1.2.4 presents the full set of results.
B.1.2.1 Bandwidth allocation for the FFR FI and FFR PI schemes
B.1.2.1.1 FFR with full transmit power isolation (FFR FI)
Tx power (f) Allocation for sector 1
Central band Cell-edge band for sector 2
Cell-edge bands for

the adjacent sectors
4 f
Allocation for sectors 3, 5, 7

5 3
1
f
6 2
Allocation for sectors 2, 4, 6
f
Figure B-4: FFR FI bandwidth allocation with re-use 3 at the cell edge. Note the geographical
representation of the cell-edge bands allocation in the left-hand side figure is symbolic only, since low-
SINR UTs are not necessarily at the cell border.
B.1.2.1.2 FFR with partial transmit power isolation (FFR PI)

Tx power (f)
Sector 1
Sectors 3, 5, 7
Sectors 2, 4, 6
f
Figure B-5: Power allocation of the FFR PI with re-use 3 at the cell edge
Page 54 (85)
B.1.2.2 Detailed simulation assumptions
The scenario considered almost matches the WINNER2 Base coverage urban downlink scenario, whose
parameters are detailed in [WIN2D6137], except the following deviations:
N in the frequency non-adaptive mode, chunk-based resource allocation is used instead of the B-
EFDMA. However, like in the B-EFDMA, the allocated resources are regularly spaced apart within
the whole system bandwidth;
N in the frequency non-adaptive mode, the link adaptation is performed based on the average channel
quality on all the allocated chunks, i.e. there is no chunk-wise modulation adaptation;
N receive diversity at the UT is obtained through a linear antenna array instead of cross-polarized
antennas
N the duo-binary turbo codes are used instead of the LDPC codes;
N variable FEC block sizes (max size in the order of 5100 bits) are used instead of fixed ones, without
modulation adaptation within a FEC block. One retransmission unit contains a single FEC block only.
The main simulation parameters are summarized in Table B-5 below.
Table B-5: Summary of the simulation assumptions
Channel model C2
Number of sectors 57
Number of UTs per sector 24 in average
Inter-site distance 1000 m
Multi-cell simulation method Central cell
System bandwidth 45 MHz
Interference modelling The channels of the 7 dominant interferers
on a long term basis are modelled accurately
The remaining ones are modelled as single-path SISO channels
All the interfering BSs transmit at full power with full load
BS antenna configuration 1 element
4-element ULA with antenna element separation 0.5λ
BS spatial processing None
GoB with 4 antennas
UT antenna configuration 2-element ULA, antenna element separation 0.5λ
UT spatial processing MRC
IRC
UT velocity 3 km/h in frequency adaptive mode
50 km/h in non-adaptive mode
Modulation and coding schemes 10 MCS
BPSK, QPSK, 16QAM, 64QAM
Duo binary turbo code with rates 1/2 , 2/3, 3/4
Link adaptation simulated with CQI feedback delayed from one frame
Retransmission / HARQ 4 / Chase combining simulated with explicit feedback
of ACK/NACK messages
Multiple access Chunk-wise OFDMA
regularly spaced apart within the whole
system bandwidth in non-adaptive mode
Scheduling Score based (window size: 30) in frequency-adaptive mode
Round Robin in non-adaptive mode
Channel and Perfect
interference parameters estimation
Feedback messages transmission Perfect
For GoB simulations, the interfering cells whose contribution to the interference is accurately modelled also
use the GoB, whereas the cells simulated in a simplified manner are assumed to transmit using a single
transmit antenna. The beam allocation in the interfering cells is drawn randomly in a uniform and independent
manner for each chunk, and changes at each time slot.
Page 55 (85)
The FFR FI and FFR PI schemes use a frequency re-use factor of 3 for the cell-edge resources. For the FFR FI,
the cell-edge band involves 16 chunks, which due to the frequency re-use 3, leads to 112 chunks available for
use to each sector over the 144 chunks of the total system bandwidth.
For the FFR PI scheme, the cell-edge band represents 1/3 of the cell bandwidth and is allocated 1.5 times more
transmit power than the rest of the band (see Figure B-4).
For the re-use 1 and FFR PI schemes, 9 UTs are scheduled simultaneously in the 45 MHz bandwidth, which
leads to 16 chunks per UT which are not necessarily co-localized. In the FFR FI scheme, only 7 UTs (16
chunks each) are scheduled simultaneously at each time slot due to the reduced available bandwidth.
B.1.2.3 Mode of operation of the scheduler

The simulated scheduler works as follows. The UTs scheduled for transmission in the current frame are
selected from their average channel quality (SINR) over the whole allowed bandwidth measured at the
previous frame, using the Score-Based scheduler in the frequency-adaptive mode, and the Round-Robin
scheduler in the non frequency-adaptive mode. Once the UTs to be transmitted to have been selected, the
chunk assignment is performed according to the transmission mode.
In the frequency–adaptive mode, the chunks are assigned to the UTs in a turn by turn policy taking into
account their score (from the Score-Based scheduler) and their CQI within each chunk: the first selected UT
(the one with the highest score) is allocated its “best” chunk (i.e. its chunk with the largest CQI), then the
second selected UT is allocated its best chunk among the remaining ones, until all the UTs have been allocated
one chunk. Then the process is repeated (starting from the first selected UT) until all the available chunks have
been allocated.
In the frequency non-adaptive mode, the chunks are allocated irrespectively of the UTs’ score and the chunk’s
CQI, so that the chunks of a particular UT are distributed evenly across the bandwidth.
The prioritisation schemes described in Section 4.2.2 impose restrictions on the chunks available to a given UT
during the chunk assignment step, depending on whether the UT is classified as “cell-edge” or not. The SINR
threshold below which UTs are classified as cell-edge is fixed to 1.5 dB for partial isolation and to 3.5 dB for
full isolation, in order to account for the higher mean SINR (over the whole available bandwidth) in the latter
case.
B.1.2.4 Simulation results

This section presents the full set results obtained for the FFR FI and FFR PI schemes with the proposed
scheduling policies, both in the frequency-adaptive and non-adaptive modes. In addition, the combination of
the FFR FI scheme with inter-cell interference mitigation techniques based on multiple antennas, GoB at the
BS transmitter and IRC at the UT receiver, is assessed. Three performance metrics have been considered: the
average sector throughput, the cell-edge throughput (measured at 5% of the user throughput CDF) and the
(geometric) average SINR over the allocated resources. Section and address the FFR FI and FFR PI schemes
with single-antenna transmission and MRC at the UT receiver, respectively. Section presents the results of the
combination of FFR FI and multiple-antenna techniques.
We invite the reader to refer to Section 4.2.5.2 for comments on the results and for the conclusions of the
study.
B.1.2.4.1 FFR FI (Single Tx antenna and MRC at the UT)

The average sector throughput, the user throughput CDFs (together with an enlargement of the cell-edge
throughput region) and the average SINR CDFs (together with an enlargement of the low-SINR region)
obtained for the considered cell-edge UTs prioritization schemes are presented graphically in Figure B-6,
Figure B-7 and Figure B-8, respectively. The results for the non-adaptive mode are on the left-hand side of the
figures, while the results for frequency-adaptive mode are on the right-hand side. Finally, Table B-6 and Table
B-7 summarize the main results for the non-adaptive and frequency-adaptive modes, respectively.
Page 56 (85)
140 140
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - no priority 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - no priority
120 120
Not applicable 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 1
Average sector througthput (Mb/s)

1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 2
100 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 3 100 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - priority scheme 3
80 80
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
Technique Technique
Figure B-6: Average sector throughput in the non-adaptive (left) and frequency-adaptive (right) modes

1 1
0.9 0.9
0.8 0.8
0.7 0.7
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3
0.2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - no priority 0.2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - no priority
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 3
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

0.1 0.1
0.09 0.09
0.08 0.08
0.07 0.07
0.06 0.06
0.05 0.05
0.04 0.04
0.03 0.03
0.02 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - no priority 0.02 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - no priority
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1
0 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4
Figure B-7: CDF of the user throughput in the non-adaptive (left) and frequency-adaptive (right) modes
Page 57 (85)
CDF of the average SINR over the scheduled chunks CDF of the average SINR over the scheduled chunks
1 1
0.9 0.9
0.8 0.8
0.7 0.7
Prob( SINR < X)
Prob( SINR < X)

0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3 reuse 1

reuse 1
FFR FI - no priority
0.2 FFR FI - no priority 0.2 FFR FI - prio. 1
FFR FI - priority scheme 2
FFR FI - prio. 2
0.1 FFR FI - priority scheme 3 0.1 FFR FI - prio. 3
0 0
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25
SINR (dB) SINR (dB)
CDF of the average SINR over the scheduled chunks CDF of the average SINR over the scheduled chunks
0.1 0.1
reuse 1
reuse 1 0.09
0.09 FFR FI - no priority
FFR FI - no priority
FFR FI - prio. 1
0.08 FFR FI - priority scheme 2 0.08
FFR FI - prio. 2
FFR FI - priority scheme 3
0.07 FFR FI - prio. 3
0.07
Prob( SINR < X)
Prob( SINR < X)
0.06 0.06
0.05 0.05
0.04 0.04
0.03 0.03
0.02 0.02
0.01 0.01
0 0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
SINR (dB) SINR (dB)
Figure B-8: CDF of the average SINR measured over the allocated chunks in the non-adaptive (left) and
frequency-adaptive (right) modes
Table B-6: Summary of the performance results for the FFR FI in non-adaptive mode
Coordination FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI

FR1
throughput (Mb/s) +0% -13% -12% -14%
throughput (kb/s) +0% +60% +125% +160%
Table B-7: Summary of the performance results for the FFR FI in frequency-adaptive mode
Coordination FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI

FR1
throughput (Mb/s) +0% -18% -18% -19% -20%
throughput (kb/s) +0% +40% +155% +97% +50%
Page 58 (85)
B.1.2.4.2 FFR PI (Single Tx antenna and MRC at the UT)

The average sector throughput, the user throughput CDFs (together with an enlargement of the cell-edge
throughput region) and the average SINR CDFs (together with an enlargement of the low-SINR region)
obtained for the considered cell-edge UTs prioritization schemes are presented graphically in Figure B-9,
Figure B-10 and Figure B-11, respectively. The results for the non-adaptive mode are on the left-hand side of
the figures, while the results for frequency-adaptive mode are on the right-hand side. Finally, Table B-8 and
Table B-9 summarize the main results for the non-adaptive and frequency-adaptive modes, respectively.
140 140
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - no priority 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - no priority
120 120
Not applicable 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 1

1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 2
100 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 3 100
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 3
80 80
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
Technique Technique

1 1
0.9 0.9
0.8 0.8
0.7 0.7
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - reuse 1
0.3 0.3
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - no priority 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - reuse 1
0.2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 2 0.2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - no priority
0.1 0.1 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 2
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

0.1 0.1
0.09 0.09
0.08 0.08
0.07 0.07
0.06 0.06
0.05 0.05
0.04 0.04
0.03 0.03 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - reuse 1

1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - reuse 1 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - no priority
0.02 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - no priority 0.02 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 1
0.01 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 3 0.01 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 3
0 0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Figure B-10: CDF of the user throughput in the non-adaptive (left) and frequency-adaptive (right)
modes
Page 59 (85)
CDF of the average SINR over the scheduled chunks CDF of the scheduled resource SINR
1 1
0.9 0.9
0.8 0.8
0.7 0.7
Prob( SINR < X)
Prob( SINR < X)

0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3 reuse 1

FFR PI - no priority
0.2 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - no priority 0.2 FFR PI - prio. 1
FFR PI - prio. 2
0.1 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 3 0.1
FFR PI - prio. 3
0 0
-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25
SINR (dB) SINR (dB)
CDF of the average SINR over the scheduled chunks CDF of the scheduled resource SINR
0.1 0.1
0.09 0.09
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - no priority reuse 1
0.08 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 2 FFR PI - no priority
0.08
1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR PI - prio. 3 FFR PI - prio. 1
0.07 0.07 FFR PI - prio. 2
FFR PI - prio. 3
Prob( SINR < X)
Prob( SINR < X)
0.06 0.06
0.05 0.05
0.04 0.04
0.03 0.03
0.02 0.02
0.01 0.01
0 0
-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 0 1 2 3 4 5
SINR (dB) SINR (dB)
Figure B-11: CDF of the average SINR measured over the allocated chunks in the non-adaptive (left)
and frequency-adaptive (right) modes
Table B-8: Summary of the performance results for the FFR PI in non-adaptive mode
Coordination FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI

FR1
throughput (Mb/s) +0% +2% -1% +0%
throughput (kb/s) +0% -42% -8% -4%
Table B-9: Summary of the performance results for the FFR PI in frequency-adaptive mode
Coordination FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI

FR1
throughput (Mb/s) +0% +1% -1% -3% -4%
throughput (kb/s) +0% -11% +9% +12% ~0%
Page 60 (85)
B.1.2.4.3 Combination of FFR FI with multiple-antenna techniques

In this section, we restrain ourselves to the full isolation FFR, since the partial isolation FFR does not provide
sufficient improvements in order to be practically useful. The considered multiple-antenna techniques are the
GoB at the BS transmitter and IRC at the UT receiver.
The user throughput CDFs (together with an enlargement of the cell-edge throughput region) obtained for the
considered cell-edge UTs prioritization schemes are shown in Figure B-12, whereas the corresponding average
sector throughput are presented graphically in Figure B-13. The results for the non-adaptive mode are on the
left-hand side of the figures, while the results for frequency-adaptive mode are on the right-hand side. Finally,
Table B-10 and Table B-11 summarize the main results for the non-adaptive and frequency-adaptive modes,
respectively.

1 1
0.9 0.9
0.8 0.8

0.7 0.7
0.6 0.6
0.5 0.5
0.4 0.4
0.3 0.3 1 Tx - MRC - reuse 1
1 Tx - 2Rx IRC - reuse 1 1 Tx - MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1
0.2 0.2 1 Tx - IRC - reuse 1
1 Tx - 2Rx IRC - FFR FI - prio. 3
1 Tx - MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1
0.1 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC 0.1 4 Tx GoB - IRC - reuse 1
4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC- FFR FI - prio. 3 4 Tx GoB - IRC- FFR FI - prio. 1
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

0.2 0.2
0.16 0.16
1 Tx - 2Rx IRC - FFR FI - prio. 3 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1
0.14 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC 0.14 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC - reuse 1

4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC- FFR FI - prio. 3 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC- FFR FI - prio. 1
0.12 0.12
0.1 0.1
0.08 0.08
0.06 0.06
0.04 0.04
0.02 0.02
0 0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5
Figure B-12: CDF of the user throughput for the combination of multiple-antenna techniques with the
FFR FI scheme, in the non-adaptive (left) and frequency-adaptive (right) modes
Page 61 (85)
180 180
160 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 3 160 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1

140 1 Tx - 2Rx IRC - FFR FI - prio. 3 140 1 Tx - 2Rx MRC - FFR FI - prio. 1
4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC - reuse 1
120 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC- FFR FI - prio. 3 120 4 Tx GoB - 2Rx IRC- FFR FI - prio. 1
100 100
80 80
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0
Technique Technique
Table B-10: Summary of the performance results in the non-adaptive mode
Re-use 1 FFR FI - Scheme 1

Scheme
1Tx 1Tx GoB 4Tx 1Tx 1Tx GoB 4Tx
MRC IRC IRC MRC IRC IRC
Sector service 47 54 84 40 46 70
throughput (Mb/s) +0% +16% +80% -14% -2% +50%
Cell-edge service 120 285 1100 240 500 1180
throughput (kb/s) +0% +140% +810% +100% +275% +880%
Table B-11: Summary of the performance results in the frequency-adaptive mode
Re-use 1 FFR FI - Scheme 1

Scheme
1Tx 1Tx GoB 4Tx 1Tx 1Tx GoB 4Tx
MRC IRC IRC MRC IRC IRC
Sector service 86 94 105 70 75 85
throughput (Mb/s) +0% +9% +21% -18% -13% -1%
Cell-edge service 320 800 1800 820 1170 1500
throughput (kb/s) +0% +150% +460% +155% +265% +370%
When used in conjunction with IRC and/or GoB, the FFR FI scheme still experiences approximately the same
reduction of sector throughput compared to the re-use 1 scheme (-15% in non-adaptive mode and -20% in
frequency-adaptive mode).
On the other hand, the sector throughput gains provided by IRC and GoB are of the same order of magnitude
with FFR than with re-use 1: approximately +15% and +80%, respectively, in the non-adaptive mode, and +9%
and +21%, respectively, in the frequency-adaptive mode.
In terms of cell-edge throughput, the FFR FI and MRC at the UT provides slightly less gains than the re-use 1
with IRC in the non-adaptive mode (+100% instead of +140%), but both scheme perform exactly the same in
the frequency-adaptive mode. However, IRC + FFR FI yields approximately a +270% increase of the cell-edge
throughput in both modes.
When used in conjunction with the GoB, however, the improvement brought by the FFR FI is small in the non-
adaptive mode (+80 kb/s, i.e. +7%), and even degrades the cell-edge throughput in the frequency-adaptive
mode. In particular, it can be observed that the crossing point between the CDFs of the GoB with and without
FFR is much below the ones observed with single-antenna transmission, which illustrates the reduction of the
FFR capability for user throughput improvements when used in combination with the GoB. We invite the
reader to refer to section 4.2.5.2 for an explanation of this phenomenon.
Page 62 (85)
B.2 Flexible Re-use Partitioning

The threshold values used for the FRP scheme in order to define the zone boundaries are based on the SINR of
the preamble where the BCH is located. Figure B-14 illustrates the CDF of the preamble SINR. In this
simulation case, re-use 3 is considered for the whole preamble including the BCH. For grouping the UTs,
preamble SINR of 20dB is used as the boundary between re-use 1 and re-use 3.
CDF of all users Preamble SINR

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6 Preamble SINR
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
dB
Figure B-14: CDF of preamble SINR with re-use 3
B.3 Self Adaptive Re-use Partitioning

Figure B-15 depicts a SARP version that makes use of re-use 3 and re-use 1 chunks. For suitable WI and WR
settings the re-use 3 chunks will have the highest priority values and will be assigned to UTs located at the cell
border. To UTs with lower path-loss values, re-use 1 chunks will be assigned. Within each UT category the
chunks are allocated to individual UT by means of cost function based scheduling.
Figure B-15: Illustrative example of the assignment of resources to cells
Page 63 (85)
Table B-12: Simulation parameters specific for SARP
Channel model C2
UT velocity 3 km/h
UT receiver diversity MRC
Central cell Yes
Number of chunks per RU 3
Traffic model Realistic, VoIP
Scheduler Proportional Fair
Scheduler period 0.6912 ms
Modulation BPSK, QAM, 16-QAM,
64-QAM
Coding B-LDPC rate 1/2, 2/3, 3/4
Link adaptation Ideal
Retransmission / HARQ Yes
-106.8
-106.85 RSARP
ISARP
-106.9
R3SARP-115
R3SARP-118
Mean Interference [dBm]
-106.95
-107
-107.05
-107.1
-107.15
-107.2
-107.25
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Users per cell
Figure B-16: Mean Interference for different resource partitioning schemes
Page 64 (85)
Appendix C. Resource allocation and scheduling
C.1 Dynamic downlink chunk allocations using inter-cell coordination
C.1.1 Schematic of the working principle
The working principle of the proposed inter-cell interference avoidance scheme is illustrated by block diagram
in Figure C-1.
Sector 1 solves
Sector 1 receives Sector 1 prepares utility matrix,
UTs in sector 1 channel info utility matrix Uk,n; prepares
sends channel including dominant where k and n are tentative chunk
information interferer links the indices for restriction list,
chunks and UTs, and sends to
Central
controller
refines
Sector 2 solves
Sector 2 prepares chunk
Sector 2 receives utility matrix,
utility matrix Uk,n; restriction
UTs in sector 2 channel info prepares
where k and n are lists for
sends channel including dominant tentative chunk
the indices for all
information interferer links restriction list,
chunks and UTs, sectors
and sends to
and
sends
NNN informati
on back
Sector N solves to the
Sector N receives Sector N prepares utility matrix, sectors
UTs in sector N channel info utility matrix Uk,n; prepares
sends channel including dominant where k and n are tentative chunk
information interferer links the indices for restriction list,
chunks and UTs, and sends to
Algorithm at Algorithm at
Sector Central Controller
Figure C-1: Schematic of the avoidance scheme
C.1.2 Utility Matrix
The utility matrix is defined as follows:

U k , n Rk ,n K N c K Dn
where Uk,n is the utility of chunk k if it is used at UT n; given that Nc first-tier sectors are permitted to use this
chunk concurrently, and yet UT n can achieve rate Rk,n. Dn is the demand factor for UT n which reflects
previous data rate deprivation (due to disadvantaged locations of the UT, fading, shadowing etc), which is
determined by the ratio of the required rate to average rate achieved over a time period. The values of Rk,n and
Nc are determined at the sector algorithm as described in the pseudo codes in Figure C-2.
FOR UT i = 1: n,
FOR Chunk j = 1:k,
Calculate SINR on chunk j for UT i (only non-dominant second tier sectors are considered initially)
Calculate initial rate based on above SINR
N c 0;
FOR Int = 1: Nt -1; all first tier sector interferers
Calculate SINR with one interferer at a time
Page 65 (85)
Calculate new rate with this first tier interferer

IF (new rate >= initial rate * s); s is sharing factor < 1
Do not restrict this interferer
N c N c 1;
ELSE
keep this interferer in a restriction list for this chunk
END IF-ELSE
The updated rate with all allowed first tier interferer is Rk,n
Nr is the number of sectors restricted to achieve Rk,n
Find U R K N K D
k ,n k ,n c n
END FOR
END FOR
END FOR
Figure C-2: Pseudo codes to generate utility matrix
C.1.3 Simulation Parameters

The simulation parameters used in this study are summarized in Table C-1.
Table C-1: Simulation and system parameters
Parameter Used Value/Model
Channel model C2
Sector Tx antenna 1200 directional with baseline antenna pattern [WIN2D6137]
UT receive antenna Omni-directional
Inter-site distance 1000 meters
Signal bandwidth 45 MHz (i.e., 144 chunks)
Frequency re-use 1 (i.e., 144 chunks available at each before restrictions)
Mobility 20 km/hr
Sector Tx power 46 dBm
Scheduler Iterative Hungarian (throughput maximization with UT data rate constraints)
Antenna configuration SISO
Coding B-LDPCC
MCS thresholds Determined with FEC block of 2304 bits and 10% BLER
MCS modes BPSK (rate ½ and 2/3), QPSK (rate ½, 2/3, and ¾), 16QAM (rate ½, 2/3, and
¾), and 64QAM (rate 2/3 and ¾)
Traffic model Full-buffer
Restriction refreshment time used Chunk restrictions remain valid over 5 frames time duration (i.e. ~3.5 ms)
C.2 Decentralized Dynamic Channel Allocation for the WINNER TDD mode
We consider the application of future wireless networks for high peak data rate transmission that rely on full
frequency re-use and dynamic, self-organizing network configuration capabilities. It is well known that in an
OFDM-TDD network with full frequency re-use, pure OFDMA provides poor throughput performance
because of the excessive inter-cellular interference. This is due to the fact that interference is generally present
at the receiver, while the transmitter is responsible for the channel assignment.
Figure C-3: Example of inter-cellular interference scenario.
The implementation of an efficient medium access in distributed self-organized networks is inevitably tied with
the ability to deal with the hidden and exposed node problems. To motivate the hidden node problem, Figure
C-3 illustrates an example interference scenario for a slotted system, where multiple BSs are operated in close
proximity to one another on the same radio frequency channels. In the example, BS1Tx attempts to transmits to
user terminal (UT) UT1Rx. Suppose UT2Tx enters the network and establishes a connection to BS2Rx. Now UT1Rx
is exposed to strong interference from UT2Tx, causing outage (lost transmission slots). Since UT2Tx cannot
Page 66 (85)
know that UT1Rx is receiving data from another (distant) transmitter, the receiver UT1Rx is said to be hidden
from the transmitter UT2Tx. The region around UT1Rx where competing transmissions cause prohibitive
interference is termed hearability region of UT1Rx, indicated by a shaded circular region around UT1Rx. On the
other hand, UT3Tx connected to BS3Rx, which is assumed outside the hearability region, may coexist with link
BS1Tx to UT1Rx, as the interference UT3Tx imposes on UT1Rx is sufficiently low.
The exposed node problem occurs when a transmitter refrains from access due to strong interference from
nearby transmissions. This however, may not be necessary as transmitters are not sensitive to interference, and
both links might coexist, as long as the respective receivers are sufficiently far away. Then, the transmitter is
said to be exposed to the interference of ongoing transmissions.
Busy-signal concept
The key principle of the busy-signal concept is that the receiver sends out a busy-signal on a time-multiplexed
channel when it has successfully received a data packet [OH04], [OHA07]. Note that this is different from the
dual busy-tone concept in [HD02] where a busy-signal is transmitted on a different narrow-band radio
frequency channel. There simultaneous receiving and transmitting is required, affecting the complexity and
cost of the RF (radio frequency) front-end. Moreover, due to the out-of band busy tones the algorithm in
[HD02] cannot rely on channel reciprocity. On the other hand, for busy-tone (BT) DCA channel reciprocity is
a key element, and simultaneous transmit–receive is not necessary. The BT-DCA protocol, however, requires a
synchronized network.
In the considered busy-tone concept, a number of time/frequency resource units (chunks) are grouped into
fixed-duration frames, and associated with each chunk is a minislot. Provided that the data is successfully
received and the transmitter intends to transmit more data, in response UT1Rx broadcasts a busy signal in the
associated minislot. Provided that channel reciprocity holds, the region where the busy signal can be detected
coincides with the hearability region of the vulnerable receiver. In the interference scenario shown in Figure
C-3, the shaded hearability region around UT1Rx therefore also marks the area in which the busy signal can be
detected. Hence, an exclusion zone around vulnerable receivers for protection against inter-cell interference is
established by the following protocol:
i. All potential transmitters must sense the busy slot prior to transmission;
ii. Transmitters that sense a strong busy signal are prohibited to use this chunk.
In the context of the interference scenario shown in Figure C-3, UT2Tx would be obliged to reschedule its
transmission to another slot, as UT2Tx detects a strong busy signal. On the other hand, UT3Tx may proceed with
its transmission as originally scheduled, as the received busy signal at UT3Tx is sufficiently low, which implies
that, due to channel reciprocity, the interference to UT1Rx would be equally low. In case an outage occurred or
the transmitter has no more data to transmit, no busy signal is broadcast by the target receiver and the slot
remains unreserved.
A busy-signal is detected as “strong” by an intending transmitter when the condition

Ib
b Td J I th (C.1)
Tb
is satisfied, where Tb is the fixed, known busy signal transmit power, Ib is the received busy signal power from
transmissions in adjacent cells, and Td is the data transmit power of the intending transmitter. Ith is the
interference threshold, i.e., the maximum allowed inter-cell interference. Provided that the data and busy signal
transmit power are the equivalent, so Tb= Td, (C.1) simplifies to
I b J I th (C.2)
The interference threshold, Ith represents the maximum allowed inter-cell interference, and is given by the
following relation
S d , tg
I th (C.3)
J tg b
where Sd,tg and J tg are the target (minimum acceptable) received power and minimum acceptable SINR
(signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio), respectively. The choice of Ith is important: while setting Ith too high
compromises the interference protection toward competing links, Ith being too low makes transmitters over
cautious, reducing the network throughput [HNO06].
As (C.1) and (C.2) only ensure that the interference contribution of an interfering transmitter is less than Ith, it
might happen that the sum of interference from multiple interfering transmitters exceeds the maximum
acceptable interference (for minimum SINR) at a vulnerable receiver. Introducing a margin in (C.3) makes
this effect less likely.
Page 67 (85)
C.2.1 Busy tone OFDMA

In this section the detailed implementation of the busy signal concept to an OFDMA based air interface is
described. In particular the problem of channel (chunk) reservation and channel access carried out in a two-step
procedure are discussed.
Figure C-4: Decentralized interference avoidance by busy-tone dynamic chunk allocation (BT-DCA).
(a.) Interference scenario, (b.) Channel response of the target and competing links over frequency for
OFDMA-TDD systems
Suppose that UT2Tx intends to set up a link to BS2Rx, while the transmission between BS1Tx and UT1Rx is
already established as indicated in Figure C-4.a. The objective of BT-DCA is twofold [HNO06]:
(i) which time-frequency slots (chunks) cause negligible interference towards existing competing
links. In the example in Figure C-4.a, the interference from UT2Tx to UT1Rx
(ii) which chunks on the intended link achieve a sufficient SINR at the target receiver BS2Rx.
To meet the first objective, the received busy tone for each chunk is compared against a given threshold
according to (C.2). As illustrated in Figure C-4.b, the received busy signal power measured over frequency,
varies due to frequency selective fading | H n1,,2 |2 and/or the fact that BS1Tx may not have accessed all chunks.
The chunks where the received busy-tone power falls below the threshold may be subsequently selected for
data transmission, denoted by Set A. In order to meet objective (ii), in Figure C-4. BS2Rx determines the signal-
to-interference plus noise ratio (SINR) on each of the selected chunks. Those chunks with sufficient SINR at
BS2Rx are reserved by protection through the busy-tone, denoted by Set B. Otherwise, no busy-tone is
transmitted so the chunk is released. Note that the SINR at a particular chunk might be low either because this
chunk on the intended link is deeply faded, or because there is high interference resulting from another
transmission.
C.2.1.1 Link initialization

In order to mathematically describe the proposed dynamic chunk allocation algorithm, define a ni ,
1 as the
channel assignment variable for link I, of chunk n at frame (
1 ). If this chunk is assigned, then a ni ,
1 1 ,
otherwise, a ni ,
1 0 . The outcome of this assignment is obtained by comparing the received busy tone with
the threshold according to (C.2), expressed as [HNO06]:
°1 , H n,
1 d I th
i, j
a ni ,
1 ® (C.4)
°̄ 0 , elsewhere
where H ni ,,j is the channel response of the received busy tone signal of link I on chunk n, and MAC frame .
According to (C.2), the threshold I th is a measure for the interference that this transmission would cause to
other receivers in the network.
The target receiver of link I then estimates the instantaneous SINR at chunk n on the intended link
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2
Td H ni ,,i 1
J ni , 1 2
(C.5)
¦ j zi
Td H ni ,,j 1 Z n, 1
and decides whether a particular chunk, that has been selected by the transmitter ( a ni ,
1 1 ), is to be reserved.
The outcome of this decision is bni , , with bni , 1 if the estimated SINR is above the required SINR,
J ni ,
1 J J tg , otherwise bni , 0 , described by [HNO06]
°1, a ni ,
1 1 and J ni ,
1 t J tg
bni , ® (C.6)
°̄0 , elsewhere
Note that the decision for the value of a ni ,
1 is made by the transmitter to mitigate interference, whereas the
decision for the value of bni , is made by the receiver to ensure that the required SINR is maintained. It is
assumed that the receiver detects a ni ,
1 without errors.
C.2.1.2 Dynamic chunk adaptation

For any MAC frame J , the received busy-tone powers are composed of the signal powers of the intended
UT, and the busy-tone powers of all competing links. The protocol, however, requires that a transmitting
station is able to identify the busy tone from the intended receiving station in the presence of busy tones from
other cells. Interestingly, as described in the following this is possible without any encoding of the busy tone.
The threshold test in (C.2) and (C.4) ensures that a transmitter only starts transmission of a data packet if the
2
condition for the received busy tone power I b I th with I b $ j zi H ni ,,j bnj, , is fulfilled. Suppose the
receiver successfully decoded the packet. For a link to be viable for communication, from (C.3) the following
condition for the received data power Sd must be satisfied
2
S d H ni ,,j b Td J S d ,tg I th b b J tg (C.7)
To acknowledge the successful reception, the receiver will transmit a busy tone with power Tb=Td. Due to
channel reciprocity Sb=Sd, the ratio between the intended and residual part of the received busy tone powers is
given by the relation
Sb
J b J tg (C.8)
Ib
As a consequence, prior to the first data packet transmission the received busy tone power is below Ith, and
after a successful transmission it is, at least, by a factor J tg b above the threshold, resulting in a surge of the
received busy tone power by J tg b . If the data packet is not received successfully, the received busy tone
power remains below the threshold, i.e., no J tg b surge will be detected. This effectively ensures reliable
detection of the busy tone on the intended link simply by measuring the surge in the total received busy tone
powers. This will indicate the transmitter that the receiver confirms the chunk is usable. Therefore, an estimate
of bni , can be obtained at the transmitter as follows
° 2 2
bˆni , 1, Bni , Bni ,
1 ! J tg (C.9)
®
°̄0 , elsewhere
where Bni , $ j H ni ,,j bnj, accounts for the compound received busy tone, and J tg is the SINR target. Compared
to (C.8) a margin of is introduced, as the sum of the complex channel gains may not add up constructively,
2 2 2
due to the inequality H ni ,,i H ni ,, j
1 H ni ,,i H ni ,, j
1 . Consequently, the condition for the chunk
assignment on the intended link i for subsequent MAC frames is given as follows:
° i i
2
ˆi
ani , ®1, 1 an,
1 Bn, I th or bn,
1 1 (C.10)
°̄0 , elsewhere

The condition 1 ani ,
1 Bni ,
2
I th implies that chunk n has not been used in the previous MAC frame
(
1) , and the received busy tone on this chunk at MAC frame is lower than the threshold Ith. The
Page 69 (85)
condition bˆni ,
1 1 means that the chunk n has been selected in the previous MAC frame and the required
SINR at the receiver J tg is maintained.
Let C denote a set of all chunks. The notations Am and B m are the sets of the chunks within a arbitrary cell m
for which bni , 1 at frame . In the proposed protocol, it is assumed that each chunk can only be assigned to
one UT within a given cell. It is clear that B m Am C .
Note that this algorithm does not require channel knowledge at the transmitter as the chunk assignment is
solely based on received busy-tone levels. In case channel knowledge about the target received SINR is
available at the transmitter the algorithm can be modified as follows. The selected chunks a ni ,
1 can then be
selected not only dependent on the interference to competing links, but also on the achieved SINR at the target
receiver. Then, (C.10) is modified to yield
ª
¬
2 º
°1, « 1 a ni ,
1 Bni , I th or bˆni ,
1 1» and Jˆni , t J tg
a ni , ® ¼ (C.11)
°̄0 , elsewhere
where Jˆni , is the predicted SINR for chunk n at frame . We note that Jˆni , is potentially different to the true
SINR, in particular for initial access, as two adjacent BSs may select the same chunk for the first time. This
will result in high interference with significantly lower actual SINR J ni , . It is obvious that the number of
rejected chunks (set Am
B m ) for link initialization can be significantly reduced by chunk assignment
according to (C.11). Now, only interference for initial access of a chunk can cause outage.
It is important to note that the set of selected chunks Am at cell m marks the chunks which may be scheduled
by the intra-cell scheduler. The intra-cell scheduler itself can allocate these chunks to various UTs in the cell
dependent on his scheduling policy, QoS constraints, and channel conditions.
C.2.2 Properties of the Busy-Tone Concept

The properties of the proposed busy-tone OFDMA (BT-OFDMA) dynamic chunk allocation scheme are
summarized as follows:
N Self-organized and decentralised interference management for arbitrary network topologies.
A mechanism for interference awareness and link protection is established (Æ C.2.2.1)
N Support of TDD uplink-downlink asymmetry ratios (Æ C.2.2.2)
N Network synchronization is required (Æ C.2.2.3)
N Complement not replacement of existing intra-cell scheduling policies (Æ C.2.2.4)
N Inherent “interference free” low-rate feedback mechanism to support link adaptation (Æ
C.2.2.5)
N Key enabler for cognitive radio networks (Æ C.2.2.6)
N Efficient support of various MIMO and SDMA approaches (Æ C.2.2.7)
C.2.2.1 Self-organized interference management for arbitrary network topologies
The busy signal concept results in a dynamic self-organization of radio resources making fixed resource re-use
concepts and a central coordination redundant. The channel bandwidth in future 4G (fourth generation) cellular
systems is nearly an order of magnitude larger than in 3G (third generation) systems. This results in a highly
frequency selective channel. The frequency selectivity applies to both the intended and the unwanted
interference links. Since in the general case both links are uncorrelated, this effect can be exploited for
subcarrier assignment in an OFDMA air-interface such that inter-cellular interference is minimized and SINR
at the desired receiver is maximized.
C.2.2.2 Support of TDD uplink-downlink asymmetry ratios
One of the most powerful features of the TDD mode is the efficient support of channel asymmetry. In a cellular
system, however, channel asymmetries between up and downlink introduce same entity interference. That is,
user terminals (UTs) interfere with other MS, and base stations (BSs) interfere with other base stations, in
addition to the well known (from cellular FDD systems) other-entity interference, i.e. UT-to-BS and BS-to-UT
interference.
Page 70 (85)
Figure C-5: Impact of same entity interference on busy tone use in cellular TDD systems with variable
DL-UL switching points
When using the busy tone concept in such system the following problem arises: In Figure C-5 a typical
scenario with different DL-UL switching points between neighbouring cells is depicted. Different DL-UL
switching points are the cause for the so-called crossed slot problem; i.e. both other entity and same entity
interference (in Figure C-5 BS-UT and BS-BS interference).
In order to solve this problem, the busy-tone part somehow has to follow the asymmetry in the data part. The
straightforward solution would be to add a busy slot on the end of every chunk, as illustrated in Figure C-6. As
the busy-tone transmission is in opposite direction to the data transmission direction (the receiver broadcasts
the busy signal), additional DGs are required. Hence, this solution is clearly infeasible, due to the high number
of duplex guards (DG) required.
Figure C-6: Adding busy slots at the end of each chunk. Although the crossed-slot problem is mitigated,
this solution results in prohibitive overhead.
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Figure C-7: Proposed frame structure for the support of different DL-UL channel asymmetries:
dedicating a slot at the end of the frame for busy signal transmission
The key to avoid the insertion of additional DGs is to appropriately replace the busy slots. This is achieved by
dedicating one slot at the beginning or the end of a frame for busy signal transmission, as illustrated in Figure
C-7. Busy slots to protect DL transmissions are inserted after the UL slots, and vice versa. As can be seen, for
the entire frame, only two DG periods are needed, i.e., no additional DG are required compared to the original
frame structure without busy slots.
Overhead: The UL-DL channel asymmetry support in Figure C-7 imposes an overhead of one OFDM symbol
per chunk for busy tone reservation. For the WINNER TDD parameters according to [WIN2D6131], the
overhead amounts to 6 OFDM symbols per frame. On the other hand, only one subcarrier per chunk is required
to effectively support the busy signal approach. Although remaining subcarriers are available for low-rate
feedback piggy packed on the busy signal (Æ see section C.2.2.5), unnecessary high overheads might be
encountered. This problem can effectively be avoided by choosing a shorter OFDM symbol length of the busy
chunks than for the corresponding data chunks.
C.2.2.3 Network synchronization

A time-frequency slotted OFDMA-TDD system is considered. This implies that the wireless network is to be
synchronized in time and frequency. Network synchronization can be achieved by:
N By a satellite navigation system such as GPS and Galileo
N By synchronization to a master clock through the core network, e.g. the network timing protocol
(NTP) which is used to synchronize the internet
N By self-organized synchronization over the air, e.g. biologically inspired firefly synchronization,
[TAB06]
C.2.2.4 Intra-cell scheduling
Each BS has a scheduling policy that is independent of the BT-OFDMA protocol. This scheduling policy is
used by the BS to determine the order in which to send/receive packets to/from the UTs in its cell, such that all
intra-cellular contention is completely resolved. The embedded BT-OFDMA procedure is used only to prevent
a transmitter (BS or UT) from accessing a slot (predetermined by an independent scheduling policy).
Therefore, BT-OFDMA is a means to augment the existing intra-cell MAC scheduling policy for enhanced
interference management, rather than to replace it.
C.2.2.5 Support of low-rate (protected) feedback mechanism for link adaptation
Low rate feedback can be efficiently implemented as piggy packed information on BT-OFDMA, providing a
reliable and interference free feedback down to a few bits per chunk. Reliable low rate feedback, such as CQI
or acknowledgments for HARQ is essential for a flexible and adaptive system concept. Provided that the mini
slot contains two pilots to allow for channel estimation, with the chunk parameters for the WINNER TDD
mode 14 coded symbols of control information per chunk are available. Note that the pilots can also be utilized
to obtain channel state information (CSI) at the transmitter.
Page 72 (85)
Tx2
Rx1
Rx2
Figure C-8: Protection of feedback information
The control information from a receiver to its corresponding transmitter is implicitly protected from
interference by BT-OFDMA, as it can be shown that the minislots carrying the low rate feedback information
are effectively free of (significant) inter-cellular interference. The reason is the TDD channel reciprocity, and
that a busy tone is only sent by a receiver following the successful reception of a data chunk, and not when the
receiver is idle. This is illustrated by means of an example in Figure C-8. Suppose that Tx2 is communicating
with Rx2, and a nearby receiver Rx1 intends to send control information back towards Tx1, creating a potential
conflict at Tx2 (receiver of the feedback information). However, the interference from Tx2 on the preceding
data chunk “jams” the nearby receiver Rx1. Therefore, Rx1 is unable to detect the transmission from Tx1 and so
it does not broadcast a busy signal. Thus, Tx2 receives the busy signal including the piggy packed control
information with low interference.
C.2.2.6 Cognitive radio networks
The need for tremendously increased peak data rates and the limited available spectrum impose paradigm shifts
on the operation of cellular systems. The challenges lie in license exempt spectrum sharing operation, as well
as efficient resource allocation and interference management. This calls for a cognitive radio which is able to
sense, as well as dynamically share the available spectrum in a decentralized manner, preferably on a short-
term basis, without the need to rely on central control.
With various operators sharing the same spectrum and with a variety of independently owned wireless
networks, sophisticated network planning in the traditional way, where base station (BS) sites are carefully
placed to minimize the interference between cells may no longer be feasible. In addition, there is the need to
cater for high density environments (airports, shopping malls, business centres, etc.) which attract higher UT
concentrations (and therefore also higher BS concentrations). In such a scenario distributed network functions
that allows for self-organized medium access control (MAC) become increasingly important.
C.2.2.7 Application of BT-OFDMA to MIMO and SDMA
BT-OFDMA is inherently suited to complement interference mitigation by MIMO, e.g. through adaptive
beamforming or dynamic grid of beams (GoB). In general, BT-OFDMA can be effectively combined with
various multi-user (MU) MIMO approaches. This is particularly true for MIMO utilizing short-term CSI at the
transmitter, since a feedback link where uplink pilots transfer the channel knowledge to the transmitter is
already established. So, effectively BT-OFDMA can be implemented without any extra overhead, as a
feedback link already exists.
In abstract, for BT-OFDMA to support a MIMO system the effective channel (the channel including spatial
processing at transmitter and receiver) needs to be reciprocal. This is accomplished by using the transmit
beamforming vector on the feedback link for receive processing, and vice versa. Then the dynamic chunk
assignment described previously is readily extended to interference aware spatial layer assignment.
The application of BT-OFDMA to MIMO is described in more detail for the downlink in the following. The
uplink case is analogous. Every base station (BS) is connected to a number of UTs. The BS and UTs are
equipped with Nbs and Nut antennas. Each chunk carries a number of spatial layers. The spatial layers
transmitted by the BS, Sbs, serve Sbs/Sut UTs, each UT are assigned Sut spatial streams. From this general MU-
MIMO case, single user MIMO and SDMA are obtained by setting S ut S bs and S ut 1 , respectively.
The transmitted signal after spatial processing reads
>
s bs V x bs , V v1 , , v Sbs N bs u S bs @ (C.12)
>
where v s v s ,1 , , v s, N bs @
T
and x bs
>
x1 , , x S bs @
T
denote the transmit beamforming vector of spatial
stream s with dimension Nbs and the transmitted sequence of the Sbs spatial layers. The signal is transmitted
over an N ut K N bs MIMO channel and is received by the user terminal:
Page 73 (85)
h11 h1, N
> @
bs
ut bs ut
r r1 , , rN ut H s
n , H N ut N bs (C.13)
h h
N ut ,1 N ut , N bs
ut
where H and n denote the spatial channel matrix and the AWGN term. After spatial processing at the mobile
receiver, the received signal of the Sut spatial layers is obtained:
> @
y ut U T r ut U T H V x bs U T n ut , U u1 , , u Sut N ut S ut (C.14)
>
where u s u s ,1 , , u s , N ut @T
denotes the receive beamforming vector of spatial stream s with dimension Nut.
In (C.14) the S ut K S bs matrix U T H V describes the effective channel including spatial processing between BS
and UT.
Figure C-9: Multi-user MIMO downlink scenario
The objective of the busy-tone protocol is to protect transmissions in a certain cell by utilizing channel
reciprocity in TDD mode. A specific multi-user (MU) MIMO downlink scenario is depicted in Figure C-9. In
Figure C-9 UT11Rx is exposed to interference from BS2Tx from an adjacent cell. Due to the spatial processing,
the interference from BS2Tx towards UT11Rx is no longer omni-directional. The spatial processing is effectively
taking into account, if on the feedback link the transmitter and receiver spatial processing is such that the
effective channel U T H V is reciprocal. Then, BS2Tx is informed about the interference it potentially causes to
UT11Rx (and other vulnerable receivers from adjacent cells) by listening to the busy tone in the associated
minislot. The effective channel becomes reciprocal if transmitters scan the minislot using the beamforming
matrix V that is to be used for subsequent data transmission in (C.12).
T
To demonstrate channel reciprocity ( H bs H ut ) of the effective channel, consider the feedback link, where
UTs transmit the busy tones according to
s ut U x ut (C.15)
>
where x ut x1 ,, x Sut @ T
denotes the transmitted feedback sequence with Sut spatial layers. Transmitters in
adjacent cells scanning the busy tone receive the following signal (in Figure C-9 BS2Tx measures the busy tone
transmitted from UT11Rx)
r bs H T s ut n bs (C.16)
where nbs denotes the AWGN term at the receiving BS. The transmitter scanning the busy tone uses the same
spatial matrix as that it intends to use for its scheduled transmission (in Figure C-9 BS2Tx uses the matrix for
transmission towards UT21Rx), given by
y bs V T r bs V T H T U x ut n bs (C.17)
>
where r bs r1 , , rS bs @T
denotes the received feedback sequence impinging at the Nbs antennas of the BS.
Comparing (C.14) with (C.17) it is seen that the effective channel is indeed reciprocal, so
> @T
V T H T U U T H V . Hence, BS2Tx can effectively measure the interference its scheduled transmission
towards UT21Rx causes to other active receivers in its vicinity.
BT-OFDMA in combination with SDMA offers an additional degree of freedom for interference management.
For instance, with a dynamic grid of beams (GoB) a BS can choose between a set of N spatial precoding
matrices ^V1 , , VN ` [WIN2D341]. Now a BS can choose the most appropriate precoding matrix, so that
interference to transmissions in other cells is minimized.
C.2.3 Performance evaluation for MA Manhattan Grid deployment scenario

Simulations are carried out for the metropolitan area (MA) urban micro-cell scenario for the WINNER TDD
mode. The simulator confirms to the requirements of the Class III simulator [WIN2D6137]. The investigations
Page 74 (85)
were conducted for the inner 3x3 building blocks in the centre of 11x11 building blocks, as shown in Figure
C-10. User terminals (UT) are uniformly distributed on the streets (outdoor UTs only). While all LoS links are
modeled, the NLoS links are only implemented for the inner 7x7 blocks.
Figure C-10: Metropolitan area urban micro-cells with two-dimensional regular grid of buildings
(“Manhattan grid”).
Knowledge about the channel state information (CSI) was assumed for the simulations. However, no
knowledge about the instantaneous level of interference at the receiver was assumed. The following table
summarizes the simulation assumptions:
Channel model B1-LOS Æ line of sight if Tx and Rx are in same street

B1-NLOS Æ non-line of sight if Tx and Rx are not in same street
Number of base stations 56
Number of mobiles per site 10
Environment characteristics Two-dimensional regular grid of buildings (“Manhattan grid”)
Number of building blocks: 11 x 11
Building block size: 200 m x 200 m
Street width: 30 m
Wrap-around No
Interference modelling All LoS links in a 11x11 building blocks modelled
NLoS links are only modelled for 7x7 building blocks
BS antenna gain 14 dBi
UT antenna configuration Single transmit antenna
UT antenna gain 0 dBi
UT velocity 3 km/h
Coding Rate 1/2 convolutional code
Modulation QPSK
Link adaptation No
Retransmission / HARQ No
Scheduling Score based scheduler
Interference threshold Ithres -90 dBm
Simulator Class III
The distribution of served UTs (black points) by base stations in the inner 3x3 building blocks is shown in
Figure C-11. User terminals (UT) are always connected to the base station with the lowest pathloss. Due to the
favourable pathloss condition of LoS channels, UTs are always connected to BSs with direct line of sight. The
cdf of the SINR distribution of scheduled chunks is shown in Figure 5-8.
Page 75 (85)
Figure C-11: Distribution of served UTs (black points) by base stations in the inner 3x3 building blocks
(marked with red bullets).
CDF of the aggregate throughput for BT-OFDMA with Ithres = -90dBm is depicted in Figure C-12. It is seen
that BT-OFDMA significantly outperforms fixed chunk allocation without any interference protection.
Especially cell edge users benefit from the interference mitigation mechanism, seen by the steeper slope of the
CDF of BT-OFDMA.
Figure C-12: CDF of aggregate throughput for BT-OFDMA. Fixed chunk allocation is drawn as a
reference, Ithres = -90dBm.
The cdf of the throughput per user is shown in Figure C-13. It is seen in Figure C-12 that the throughput on the
uplink is higher than on the downlink. For fixed chunk allocation the CDF severely degrades for low SINR.
The flattening of the CDF at throughputs less than 4 Mbps is due to the LoS interference at street corners.
Users which are located at street corners are exposed to strong interference, due to the LoS of both the intended
and the interfering link, compared to users in street canyons, where interference is typically NLoS. The
interference protection offered by BT-OFDM effectively avoids this problem.
Page 76 (85)
Figure C-13: CDF of user throughput for BT-OFDMA. Results for downlink and uplink are plotted with
interference thresholds Ithres = -90dBm.
C.2.4 Performance evaluation for LA peer-to-peer network

The simulation is carried out in an indoor deployment environment as defined as scenario A1 in [WIN2D111].
It consists of one floor of a building consisting of 40 rooms of size 10m x 10m x 3m and two corridors of size
100m x 5m x 3m. The UTs are assumed to be distributed uniformly inside the rooms and the corridors with a
probability of 90% and 10% respectively. If NL is the targeted number of links in the system, 2NL mobiles are
distributed in the indoor environment. The relevant parameters considered in simulation are presented in Table
C-2.
Table C-2: List of simulation parameters
Parameters Value
Channel model Indoor scenario (A1)
Number of links 15
Environment characteristics One floor of a building with regular grid of rooms, walls
and corridors [WIN2D6137] (see Figure C-14)
Number of rooms: 40 (size 10 m x 10 m x 3 m)
Number of corridors: 2 (size 100 m x 5 m x 3 m)
Wrap-around No
MS transmit power 21 dBm
MS height 1.5m
Symbol length 20.48 µs
Guard interval 1.28 µs
Total symbol length 21.76 µs
Total bandwidth 100 MHz
Total number of subcarriers (SCs) 2048
Number of SCs used for data 1664
transmission
Chunk size 15 (time) K 8 (frequency) = 120
Number of chunks/frame 2 (time) K 208 (frequency)
Packet size 12208 bits
Modulation scheme QPSK, rate ½ convolutional code
SINR target 5 dB
Page 77 (85)
Distribution of MSs in WINNER indoor scenario

50
45
40
35
Y−coordinate [m]
30
25
20
15
10
5 Transmitter
Receiver
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
X−coordinate [m]
Figure C-14: Indoor scenario with its corresponding distribution of UTs. The each transmitter selects its
receiver randomly from the distribution.
The deployment scenario and the distribution of UTs are illustrated in Figure C-14. For forming the links, two
mobiles A and B are randomly selected from the mobiles distributed in the system, forming a peer-to-peer
(P2P) link.
At the beginning of a snapshot, each transmitter has a buffer which queues a fixed number of packets of
constant length. The offered load to the system is changed by changing the packet arrival rate which is
assumed to be the same for all UTs. The packets in the buffer are characterized by linearly increasing
expiration time, k t , where k is the position of the packet in the queue, corresponding to the equidistant inter-
packet arrival by rate 1 / t .
The performance of BT-OFDMA applied to local area peer-to-peer (P2P) networks is evaluated on the basis of
four metrics: throughput, data rejection rate, delay and packet expiration rate. Throughput is the number of bits
that are transmitted successfully. A transmission is considered successful if the received SINR is greater than
or equal to the SINR target. The data rejection rate corresponds to the average number of bits transmitted per
unit time but fail to meet the SINR target. Delay is the time elapsed between the beginning of the snapshot to
the time the packet is completely transmitted. The packets that expire before fully transmitted are assumed to
have infinite delay, which for simulation purposes is made equal to the snapshot duration (100 ms). The
packets are assumed to expire if the transmission of the entire packet is not completed before the expiration
deadline. The optimum value for the interference threshold in (C.2) is determined by simulations as Ithres =
100dBm.
The performance of the above algorithm is compared against the random allocation scheme. The random
allocation scheme schedules transmission on any chunk with probability p if there is data to be transmitted.
Page 78 (85)
Total system throughput in WINNER−TDD adhoc network Data rejection in WINNER−TDD adhoc network
140 1000
900
120 Busy tone (Ithres = −100 dBm)
Total system throughput [Mbps] 800
Random allocation (p = 0.10)
100 Random allocation (p = 0.25)
Data rejection [Mbps]

700
Busy tone (Ithres = −100 dBm) Random allocation (p = 0.50)
Random allocation (p = 0.10) 600 Random allocation (p = 1.00)
80
500
60
Random allocation (p = 1.00) 400
40 300
200
20
100
0 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
System offered load [Mbps] System offered load [Mbps]
Figure C-15: Total system throughput (left) and data rejection rate (right) in WINNER–TDD ad hoc
network.
The simulation results show that the busy tone concept achieves approximately a three-fold gain in throughput
compared to the benchmark systems, as can be seen in Figure C-15. A maximum throughput of approximately
130 Mbps is achieved with busy tone scheme whereas the random allocation scheme with p = 0.1 and p = 0.25
only give a maximum throughput of only 40 Mbps. Using fixed allocation scheme in which the total number of
chunks per timeslot are divided by the number of links in the system, the maximum system throughput that can
be obtained would be 67.4 Mbps. In this case, the system is free of interference as no chunk is re-used. From
this it can be found that the BB algorithm approximately achieves an effective re-use of two as the maximum
throughput is about 130Mbps.
The busy tone algorithm performs better than the benchmark systems also in terms of delay and packet success
rate as can be seen from Figure C-16. The lower delay and packet expiration rate is of paramount importance
for time sensitive traffic and therefore establishes the busy tone as a preferred choice among the methods
studied here.
Packet delay in WINNER−TDD adhoc network Packet success rate in WINNER−TDD adhoc network
100 90
Busy tone (Ithres = −100 dBm)
90 80 Random allocation (p = 0.10)
70
Packet success rate
Packet delay [ms]
60
60
50
50
40
40
Busy tone (Ithres = −100 dBm) 30
30
20 Random allocation (p = 0.25) 20
10 10
0 0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400
System offered load [Mbps] System offered load [Mbps]
Figure C-16: Delay performance (left) and packet success rate (right) in WINNER–TDD ad hoc
network.
Page 79 (85)
C.3 QoS scheduling with inter-cell interference awareness
C.3.1 Description
A block diagram of the scheduling algorithm is depicted in Figure C-17.
r1
P1
D1
Flow 1 E1
r2 Token
Bank
B
P2
D2
Flow 2 E2
Output Buffer
rN
PN
DN
Flow N EN
Figure C-17: TBFQ Downlink Structure
As shown in Figure C-18 flow i is characterized by the following parameters:

Oi : Packet arrival rate
ri : Token generation rate
Di : Data buffer size
Pi : Token pool size
Ei : Counter that keeps track of the number of tokens borrowed from or given to the token bank by flow i
Each L-byte packet consumes L tokens. For each flow i, Ei is a counter that keeps track of the number of tokens
borrowed from or given to the token bank. As tokens are generated at rate ri, the tokens overflowing from the
token pool are added to the token bank, and Ei is incremented by the same amount. When the token pool is
depleted and there are still packets to be served, tokens are withdrawn from the bank by flow i, and Ei is
decreased by the same amount. Thus, during periods when the incoming traffic rate of flow i is less than its
token generation rate, the token pool always has enough tokens to service arriving packets, and Ei becomes
positive and increasing. On the other hand, during periods when the incoming traffic rate of flow i is greater
than its token generation rate, the token pool is emptied at a faster rate than it can be refilled with tokens. In
this case, the connection may borrow tokens from the bank. The priority of a connection in borrowing tokens
from the bank is determined by the priority index given by
Ei
ri
By assigning the priority in this manner, we can make sure that flows belonging to UTs suffering from bad
interference conditions and shadowing in particular will have a higher priority index as they will be
contributing to the bank more often. This algorithm was designed to accommodate the bursty nature of traffic.
This is done by the graceful acceptance of traffic profile violation when excess bandwidth is available,
Page 80 (85)
provided the session does not exceed its bandwidth allocation in the long term. This prevents sudden
degradation of QoS experienced by the end user as a result of traffic profile violations.
The second level of scheduling considers the channel state information. It is assumed that at the start of each
scheduling interval, the base station knows the SINR values for each UT in every chunk for the downlink case.
Therefore, the function of this level of scheduling is to assign the best chunk to the UT (who is selected in the
first level of scheduling). For this level of scheduling we use the Maximum SINR algorithm where the
selected UT receives the best chunk available to it.
C.3.2 Simulation setup

The developed scheme consists of the following main components:
I. Traffic model showing different service classes (for the current study, only the video class is considered)
II. A scheduler which is subdivided into two parts:
o The first part deals with scheduling relating to QoS issues.
o The second part of the scheduler takes into account the channel state information and does
the chunk assignment.
III. An interference model which considers interference from the 1st Tier in a central cell approach
Video streaming traffic is generated using the 2 IRP model. The packet size is 188 bytes or 1504 bits. The
average data rate is 1263 pkts/sec * 1504 bits = 1.9 Mbps. The parameters for this model are given in Table
C-3.
Table C-3: Video traffic generation parameters
Source_i λi , 1i , 2i Average pkts/sec

(pkts/sec)
IRP#1 1123.80 1.14 1.22 668.49
IRP#2 1547.50 1.54 1.28 594.51
2IRP Average 1263.00
All the traffic generated in the system is organized in the following manner (c.f. Figure C-18):
I. Traffic from each service class is en-queued in a separate queue
II. Within each queue, each UT is queued in a separate sub-queue
Figure C-18: UT queue structure
As described above there are two levels of scheduling. The first level of scheduling takes into account the
traffic queue levels and the QoS issues and then schedules the UTs accordingly. The factors included are
mainly:
I. Priority
II. Interflow Fairness
III. Delay Constraints
The network layout of the system is shown in Figure C-19. Each cell in the network has three sectors. In our
simulation we are only considering the effect of interference on the central cell. For this purpose the
interference form the first tier will be taken into account. We also assume a frequency re-use factor of one in
each sector.
Page 81 (85)
Figure C-19: Network layout used for the investigations
C.3.3 Simulation Parameters

The simulation parameters can be summarized in Table C-4.
Parameter Used Value/Model

Scenario Wide Area DL(Frequency Adaptive)
Channel model C2
Sector Tx antenna 1200 directional with baseline antenna pattern [WIN2D6137]
UT receive antenna Omni-directional
Inter-site distance 1000 meters
Signal bandwidth 15 MHz (i.e., 48 chunks which is 1/3rd of the baseline
assumptions)
Frequency re-use 1 (i.e., 48 chunks available at each before restrictions)
Mobility 70 km/hr
Sector Tx power 46 dBm
Scheduler Token Bank Fair Queuing, Score Based (reference algorithm)
Interference Model Brute force Method (Central cell is considered with
interference from the 1st Tier)
Antenna configuration SISO
Coding B-LDPCC
MCS modes BPSK (rate ½ and 2/3), QPSK (rate ½, 2/3, and ¾), 16QAM
(rate ½, 2/3, and ¾), and 64QAM (rate 2/3 and ¾)
MCS thresholds With FEC block of 1704 bits and 10% BLER
Frame duration 0.6912 ms (This is also the scheduling interval)
Service Class Video
Traffic Model 1.9Mbps 2IRP model for MPEG video
Packet Size 188 Bytes
Packet Drop criterion Delay>0.19 sec
Table C-4: Simulation and Traffic Model Assumptions
C.3.4 Further Results

Further results shown below indicate the average queuing delay and the average packets dropped plotted
against varying number of UTs and activity factors
Figure C-20 shows the average user queuing delay vs. number of users. TBFQ is compared to SB with
different window sizes at two different AF’s of 0.5 and 0.7. At an AF=0.5, the performance of TBFQ is much
better than SB. We see that average user queuing delay is almost constant till 14 users for TBFQ and then tends
to increase linearly. If we increase the AF to 0.7, the performance of TBFQ still outperforms SB. The same
trend is observed in Figure C-21. This shows the average user queuing delay vs. different AFs. Two different
cases are shown here also. We see the performance in the case of low loading (8 users) and high loading (20
Page 82 (85)
users). The trend for both these cases is the same in the presence of low to medium interference i.e. TBFQ
outperforms SB. But at high interference the performance is comparable.
Figure C-22 shows average packets dropped per frame vs. number of users. This is shown for two different
AF’s of 0.5 and 0.7. At an AF=0.5 we observe the average packets dropped per frame for TBFQ is less than
SB. The curve is almost constant till 14 users and then increases linearly with the number of users. The same
trend is observed for SB but with more packets dropped. At higher interference (shown by an AF =0.7), we
observe the same trend for TBFQ as compared to the lower interference between lower to medium loading. But
at higher loading, the number of packets dropped per frame is comparable for both TBFQ and SB.
This trend is again visible in Figure C-23 which shows the average packets dropped per frame vs. different
AF’s for low and high loading.
Score Based(1000) Act =0.7

0.03
TBFQ Act =0.7
TBFQ Act =0.5
0.025
Average Queueing delay (sec)

0.02
0.015
0.01
0.005
0
8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Number of Users
Figure C-20: Average queuing delay vs. number of UTs
Page 83 (85)
0.035
TBFQ 20 Users
Score Based(1000) 20 Users
Average Queueing delay (sec) 0.03 Score Based(100) 20 Users
TBFQ 8 Users
0.025
0.02
0.015
0.01
0.005
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Activity Factor
Figure C-21: Average queuing delay vs. activity factors (AF)
3
TBFQ Act =0.7
Average Packets dropped per frame
2.5 Score Based(100) Act =0.7

2 TBFQ Act =0.5
1.5
0.5
0
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Number of Users
Figure C-22: Packets dropped per frame vs. number of UTs
Page 84 (85)
5
TBFQ 20 Users
4.5
Packets Dropped (pkts/frame) 4
TBFQ 8 Users
3.5
3
2.5
1.5
0.5
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Activity Factor
Figure C-23: Packets dropped per frame vs. activity factors
Page 85 (85)

Interference Avoidance Concepts

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Interference Avoidance Concepts

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WINNER II D4.7.2 v1.

Contractual Date of Delivery to the CEC: 30.06.07

Carleton University /Communication Research Centre (CU/CRC)

Mahmudur Rahman Phone: +1-613-520-2600 Ext 1579

William Wong Phone: +1-613-990-2977

Halim Yanikomeroglu Phone: Phone: +1-613-520-5734

France Telecom (FTR&D)

Siemens AG Austria (SAGO)

Siemens AG Slovakia (SAGSK)

Pavol Svac Phone: +421 2 5968 4663

University of Surrey (UniS)

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations...............................................................7

2. Overview of inter-cell interference avoidance schemes ........................10

3. Assessment methodology ........................................................................13

4. Resource management and partitioning .................................................16

5. Resource allocation and scheduling........................................................32

6. Recommendations for inter-cell interference avoidance .......................44

7. Summary and conclusions .......................................................................45

Appendix A. System-level inter-cell interference modelling..................48

Appendix B. Resource management and partitioning ...........................51

Appendix C. Resource allocation and scheduling..................................65

List of Acronyms and Abbreviations

NTP Network Timing Protocol

N Inter-cell interference averaging

2. Overview of inter-cell interference avoidance schemes

2.1 General description

Furthermore three types of co-ordination may apply:

2.2 Resource management and partitioning

2.2.2 Resource partitioning

2.2.2.2 Self adaptive Re-use Partitioning

2.3 Resource allocation and scheduling

2.3.2 Decentralized Dynamic Channel Allocation for the TDD mode

2.3.3 Cost function based scheduling

2.3.4 QoS Scheduling with Inter-cell Interference Awareness

3.2 Basic simulation assumptions used

3.3 Considered assessment criteria

3.4 Impact on System architecture, measurement, and signalling

3.5 Complexity issues

4. Resource management and partitioning

4.2 Resource management by transmit power restriction schemes

4.2.1 Description of the considered power restriction schemes

4.2.2 Scheduling policies

4.2.3 Impact on System Architecture, Measurements and Signalling

4.2.5 Performance assessments

4.2.5.1 IFC through cell-specific transmit power reduction

4.2.5.1.2 Simulation results

IFC 3/1 Tx:1 x Rx:2 (MRC) 3 km/h

UT vel. 3 km/h UT vel. 30 km/h

cdf of av. SINR

0.6 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC) 0.6 Tx: 1 x Rx: 2 (MRC)

The behaviour of the average user throughput is shown in Figure 4-3:

The corresponding results are summarized in Table 4-2:

Tx: 1 IFC 7/6 Tx: GoB IFC7/6 Tx: GoB IFC7/6

0.6 IFC 7/6 Tx : fix GoB 2 x Rx:2

0.2 Tx: fix GoB 4 Rx: 2 (MRC)

4.2.5.2 Fractional frequency re-use & impact of prioritization schemes

4.2.5.2.2 Summary of the simulation results

Coordination FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI

Coordination FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI FFR FI

Coordination FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI

Coordination FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI FFR PI

CDF of average user throughput CDF of average user throughput

Prob( av. user throughput < X)