An Interference Contribution Rate Based Small Cells On/Off Switching Algorithm for 5G Dense Heterogeneous Networks

Dense heterogeneous network serves as one of the most promising technologies for the upcoming 5G network. However, with a larger number of densely deployed small cells, the problem of co-channel interference and power consumption of 5G small cell base stations (also known as S-gNBs) becomes more severe. In order to improve the power efficiency and alleviate the co-channel interference, S-gNBs in the network need to be dynamically switched on or off via appropriate criteria or strategies. This paper proposes an interference contribution rate (ICR) based small cell on/off switching algorithm. With the incorporation of network adjacency matrix (NAM), the proposed algorithm circumvents the complicated computation of the ICRs of the S-gNBs in the network and hence yields less computational complexity. In addition, the proposed algorithm identifies the S-gNBs that need to be switched on or off based on the NAM and the serving signal strength measurements of user equipment’s and therefore involves less signaling information in the procedure of switching on/off decision. Simulation results verify that the proposed algorithm effectively diminishes the co-channel interference among the small cells, ameliorates the network power efficiency and total data rate, and meanwhile maintains a lower traffic loss in the network.