A Novel Approach for Co-Channel Interference Mitigation in Femtocell Networks

Femtocell networks are widely being deployed to extend cellular network coverage in indoor environments such as office building spaces and homes. In order to mitigate possible co-channel interferences, designs based on the concept of cognitive radio (CR) that enables an overlay between macrocell (primary) and femtocells (secondary) has been considered a promising approach. The paper first introduces a general dynamic sensing mechanism, which is characterized by performing per-time-slot fast sensing upon a channel at the femto devices, in contrast to the conventional CR design that each channel is sensed for identifying available TV bands. Then, based on the proposed sensing mechanism, the paper analyzes the possible throughput achieved by a femto user via a Markov chain model. Numerical experiment is conducted to verify the proposed model and examine different sensing scenarios using the practical GSM standard parameters, and prove the effectiveness of the proposed approach.