Enhancing cell-edge performance using multi-layer soft frequency reuse scheme

In cellular systems, maintaining data rate at the cell edge has been a challenging task due to strong co-channel interference from neighbouring cells. Several techniques have been proposed to tackle the issue, among which soft frequency reuse (SFR) is the most widely used. A novel multi-layer SFR scheme combined with cell sectoring is proposed to improve the performance in cell-edge region. Then, a spectrum allocation scheme in a three-cell reuse system is designed to ensure the maximisation of the efficiency. A generic expression for power allocation in different regions along with the signal-to-noise ratio of multi-layer SFR in sectored cell is derived. Finally, system-level simulation has been carried out to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed resource allocation scheme. It is shown that the spectral efficiency at cell-edge area improves by ~10% which is significant for the cell-edge region.