Coverage in Tiered Cellular Networks with Spatial Diversity

In two-tier networks - comprising a conventional cellular network overlaid with shorter range femtocell hotspots - with universal frequency reuse, the near-far effect from crosstier interference diminishes coverage for users in either tier. Equipping the macrocell and femtocell basestations (BSs) with multiple antennas can enhance robustness against the near-far problem. Given a per-tier outage probability constraint, this work derives coverage radii wherein cross-tier interference bottlenecks cellular and hotspot coverage. Single-user (SU) multiple antenna transmission at each tier is shown to provide significantly superior coverage and spatial reuse relative to multiuser (MU) transmission. We propose a decentralized carrier sensing approach to regulate femtocell transmission powers for ensuring reliable cellular coverage. Simulations using typical path loss scenarios show that our interference management strategy provides reliable cellular coverage with about 60 femtocells per cellsite.