Fair channel allocation techniques for clustered cooperative communication in LTE/LTE advanced

Cell Clustering has been identified as one of the technique and mechanism for cooperative communication used in Long Term Evolution (LTE). However, the proposed mechanism is subjected to many difficulties in cooperative decisions. This paper gives an overview on clustering techniques for User Equipment (UEs) and eNodeBs (eNBs) being handled in the LTE/LTE-Advanced network such as static and dynamic clustering. Strategic channel allocation schemes are required to equally allocate bandwidth and communication channels to the eNBs. This tends to maximize system spectral efficiency when assigning channels to cells in a cellular network without interference with neighbouring. A new proposed fair channel allocation using a combination of a static and dynamic clustering is being introduced to improve the previous channel assignment techniques. Moreover, fairness among UEs and eNBs during sub-carrier allocation under various propagation impairments has been investigated. By implementing dynamic clustering with fair channel allocation, the inter-cell interference is reduced, thus improving the throughput and network's performance.