Automatic methods for HetNet uplink power control optimization under fractional load

In this paper we study uplink open loop power control (OLPC) optimization for co-channel Heterogenous Network (HetNet) scenarios with macro and pico cells under fractional load conditions. Two methods for automatic OLPC optimization are proposed, motivated and compared against manual approach. It is found that the OLPC parameters at the pico-layer can be computed as a function of the OLPC parameters at the macro-layer, taking the load at the different cells into account. It is shown that using such a methods results in good overall system level performance. We contribute with in-depth analysis of dependencies between OLPC parameters, cells load, throughput performance and other metrics used to describe network operation on system level.