A Comparative Analysis of Wi-Fi Offloading and Cooperation in Small-Cell Network

Abstract

Small cells deliver cost-effective capacity and coverage enhancement in a cellular network. In this work, we present the interplay of two technologies, namely Wi-Fi offloading and small-cell cooperation that help in achieving this goal. Both these technologies are also being considered for 5G and B5G (Beyond 5G). We simultaneously consider Wi-Fi offloading and small-cell cooperation to maximize average user throughput in the small-cell network. We propose two heuristic methods, namely Sequential Cooperative Rate Enhancement (SCRE) and Sequential Offloading Rate Enhancement (SORE) to demonstrate cooperation and Wi-Fi offloading, respectively. SCRE is based on cooperative communication in which a user data rate requirement is satisfied through association with multiple small-cell base stations (SBSs). However, SORE is based on Wi-Fi offloading, in which users are offloaded to the nearest Wi-Fi Access Point and use its leftover capacity when they are unable to satisfy their rate constraint from a single SBS. Moreover, we propose an algorithm to switch between the two schemes (cooperation and Wi-Fi offloading) to ensure maximum average user throughput in the network. This is called the Switching between Cooperation and Offloading (SCO) algorithm and it switches depending upon the network conditions. We analyze these algorithms under varying requirements of rate threshold, number of resource blocks and user density in the network. The results indicate that SCRE is more beneficial for a sparse network where it also delivers relatively higher average data rates to cell-edge users. On the other hand, SORE is more advantageous in a dense network provided sufficient leftover Wi-Fi capacity is available and more users are present in the Wi-Fi coverage area.

Adaptive Wi-Fi offloading schemes in heterogeneous networks, the survey

“…Using the Continuous Time Markov chain, they propose a traffic offload rate scheme and a local resource consumption rate for the analysis results. [53] propose two methods at once, namely sequential cooperative rate enhancement (SCRE) and sequential offloading rate enhancement (SORE). Both methods are proposed to be applied to 5G systems.…”

3D Poisson-Based Neighborhood Capacity Analysis for Millimeter Wave Communications

“…However, the final task will be accomplished in upcoming years when the radio components are targeted to extremely high frequencies with the aim of exploiting the presently underutilized millimeter wave (mmWave) bands [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]. This latter element, combined with the densification of the base stations (BSs) [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ], the integration between the 5G and the IEEE 802.11ad gigabit wireless fidelity systems [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ], and the usage on each device of massive, electrically-small antenna arrays [ 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ], represent the actual technological jump toward a pervasive terrestrial network, capable of supporting a huge range of applications, including massive data acquisition and low-latency multimedia streaming [ 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”