Greening the Cell Edges

Heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are envisioned to enable the next‐generation cellular networks with higher spectral and energy efficiency. This chapter presents a two‐tier HetNet, where small‐cell BSs (SBSs) is arranged around the edge of the reference macro‐cell such that the resultant configuration is referred to as cell‐on‐edge (COE). It discusses the uplink performance of two‐tier HetNets, where small‐cells are arranged at the edge of the macro‐cell, that is, the COE configuration, which is shown to facilitate the cell‐edge mobile users with a guaranteed high‐quality link, and thereby it tends to increase the ASE compared with the other two competitive configurations, namely the UDC and MoNet configurations. It is shown further that the CO
₂
e emissions of the COE deployment is reduced to 82% in comparison with the CO
₂
e emissions of the MoNets without employing PC. Therefore, the reduction in CO
₂
e emissions is considered as a cornerstone in designing and planning environment‐friendly wireless networks.