Coverage and Rate Analysis for Massive MIMO-Enabled Heterogeneous Networks with Millimeter Wave Small Cells

The existing cellular networks are being modified under the umbrella of fifth generation (5G) networks to provide high data rates with optimum coverage. Current cellular systems operating in ultra high frequency (UHF) bands suffer from severe bandwidth congestion hence 5G enabling technologies such as millimeter wave (mmWave) networks focus on significantly higher data rates. In this paper, we explore the impact of co-existance of massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) that provides large array gains and mmWave small cells on coverage. We investigate the downlink performance in terms of coverage and rate of a three tier network where a massive MIMO macro base stations (MBSs) are overlaid with small cells operating at sub-6GHz and mmWave frequency bands. Based on the existing stochastic models, we investigate user association, coverage probability and data rate of the network. Numerical results clearly show that massive MIMO enabled MBSs alongside mmWave small cells enhance the performance of heterogeneous networks (HetNets) significantly.