Analyzing the Impact of Inter Cooperation Region Interference in Coordinated Multi-Point Uplink Networks

We analyze the uplink of coordinated multi-point (CoMP) networks in which cooperation can be amongst N = 2 or N = 3 base stations (BSs). We consider a 2-D network of BSs on a regular hexagonal lattice wherein the cooperation tessellates the 2-D plane into cooperation regions (CRs); specifically, we analyze the impact of the interference between the CRs in the network. Our model accounts realistic propagation conditions, particularly including shadowing. We obtain accurate, closed-form, approximations for the user capacity coverage probability (CCP) and the ergodic capacity at each point within the CR. To provide a network-level analysis, we focus on the locations within each CR with the minimum CCP - “the worst-case point(s)”. The worst-case CCP and/or ergodic capacity can be used in parametric studies for network design. Here, the analysis is applied to obtain the relationship between cell size and CCP and, thereby, the required density of BSs to achieve a chosen target capacity coverage. The analysis also allows for a comparison between different orders of BS cooperation, quantifying the reduced required BS density from higher orders of cooperation. Comprehensive simulations are used to illustrate the accuracy of our analysis, including the approximations used for analytic tractability.