Abstract
Conference Title: 2016 IEEE 17th International Workshop on Signal Processing Advances in Wireless Communications (SPAWC) Conference Start Date: 2016, July 3 Conference End Date: 2016, July 6 Conference Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom Large scale multi-tier Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) are expected to ensure a consistent quality of service (QoS) in 5G systems. Such networks consist of a macro base station (BS) equipped with a large number of antennas and a dense overlay of small cells. The small cells could be deployed within the same coverage of the macro-cell BS, thereby causing high levels of inter-cell interference. In this regard, coordinated beamforming techniques are considered as a viable solution to counteract the arising interference. The goal of this work is to analyze the efficiency of coordinated beamforming techniques in mitigating both intra-cell and inter-cell interference. In particular, we consider the downlink of a Time-division duplexing (TDD) massive multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) tier-HetNet and analyze different beamforming schemes together with different degrees of coordination between the BSs. We exploit random matrix theory tools in order to provide, in explicit form, deterministic equivalents for the average achievable rates in the macro-cell and the micro-cells. We prove that our theoretical derivations allow us to draw some conclusions regarding the role played by coordination strategies in reducing the inter-cell interference. These findings are finally validated by a selection of some numerical results.