Traffic-Based Study of Femtocell Access Policy Impacts on HSPA Service Quality

Home NodeBs (HNB)s can be operated in a fully-closed manner (in which only user equipment (UEs) within a closed subscriber group (CSG) are permitted to connect), a fully-open manner (in which access can potentially be granted to any nearby mobile station), or somewhere in between. An additional option is "hybrid" HNBs, in which a portion of the HNB resources are reserved for exclusive use of the CSG, and the remaining resources are allocated in an open manner. The relationship between access policy and the performance of the overall network is one of the most interesting open questions related to HNB deployment. The present paper explores the relationship between HNB access and quality of service with specific attention to the differences between HSDPA, HSUPA, and the relative mix of traffic types.