Study of Almost Blank Subframe Configurations for Traffic offload in HetNets

Nowadays, the demand for data usage on mobile phones is increasing dramatically. In addition, smartphones with powerful multimedia capabilities have become popular. All these factors are enhancing the amount of data traffic in mobile communication systems. As a result, the users could experience increasing interference to their desired data transmission. In this paper, the techniques for enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC) in Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) such as 4G and 5G mobile systems are studied. The Cell Range Expansion (CRE) and Almost Blank Subframe (ABS), which are the core techniques under eICIC are focused in this work. Simulation model adapted based on Vienna LTE downlink system simulation is used to verify the system performance under the implementation of CRE and ABS mechanisms. System performance in terms of cell association user fairness, SINR differences, average throughput and throughput CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function) is fully investigated while varying the major CRE and ABS configurations i.e. CRE bias value and ABS ratio. The simulation results for the system under different traffic load situations are also studied.