Using clustering techniques to improve capacity of LTE networks

In highly dense LTE networks, with the increased number of users requesting services in a cell, blocking will occur for some users. To deal with this, techniques for increasing the capacity of the cell must be adopted. Clustering nodes into small groups with low power will enable reusing the available frequency and thus expanding the capacity of the network. In this paper, clustering is implemented in a way to configure the nodes into groups each having one cluster-head (CH) that communicates directly with the Base Station (BS), while other nodes, called slaves, relay their communication through cluster-head nodes. The implementation of different clustering strategies that are adapted for the LTE environment is proposed. Two of the well-known clustering algorithms, namely K-means and the Hierarchical Agglomerative Clustering (HAC), are used for this purpose. Moreover, the use of selection strategy for configuring the nodes is also implemented and compared with the other two clustering techniques. A proper frequency allocation and power control scheme is implemented in order to avoid excessive interference and get valid clustering formations in all cases.