Inter-Cell Interference Mitigation in LTE-Advanced Network by Using Coordinated Multipoint Transmission Technique: The Case of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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Date
2021-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The number of mobile broadband subscribers is increasing along with mobile data traffic on
the Ethiopian mobile network. Mobile customers are facing dissatisfied service quality as the
number of subscribers is increasing due to resource sharing as well as increasing interference.
To improve service quality, network optimization and expansion work has been continuously
performed. In order to maximize network capacity and coverage, ethio telecom upgrading the
cellular network by using Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A), an indoor building solution
system, and adding base stations/transmitters. In such networks, Inter-Cell Interference (ICI)
becomes more challenging, which mainly affects network performance. So, to overcome the
aforementioned problem, operators are required to develop an effective approach that adopts
different interference mitigation techniques.
This thesis study presents a Coordinated MultiPoint (CoMP) transmission technique that can
be considered as an effective way to improve spectral efficiency and system throughput performance.
The thesis focused on downlink ICI mitigation in the LTE-A network within Addis
Ababa. Comparative analyses and evaluations were performed for various CoMP and non-
CoMP schemes. Taking into account performance metrics such as Signal to Interference plus
Noise Ratio (SINR), spectral efficiency, and system throughput by performing radio propagation
using WinProp and system-level simulation using the static simulator Matlab.
The performance evaluation of the simulation study results obtained that the SINR gain improves
1.2dB and 1.4dB for the intra-site CoMP system, the Dynamic Point Blanking (DPB)
CoMP system improves up to 3dB and 1.9dB, and the Joint Transmission (JT) CoMP system
improves 3.7dB and 2.8dB for the cell edge and average users respectively. Spectral efficiency
gain improved by 1.4bps/Hz, 2.4bps/Hz, and 3.2bps/Hz for intra-site CoMP, DPB CoMP, and
JT CoMP scenarios, respectively. In addition, the throughput gain was achieved at 33% and
15% for intra-site CoMP, 70%, and 45% for DPB CoMP, and 97% and 70% for JT CoMP for
the cell edge and average users, respectively. Therefore, the proposed interference mitigation
solutions have been proven to provide a significant performance improvement for the LTE-A
network and are worthy of deployment on the existing Addis Ababa LTE-A networks.
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Keywords
LTE-Advanced network, Inter-cell interference, Interference management technique, Coordinated multipoint, Joint processing, SINR, Throughput, Addis Ababa