Adaptive coverage for high data rate LTE networks

Traditional cellular network infrastructure provide fixed radio coverage. The temporal changes in user distribution throughout the day and from day to day leads to inefficient use of radio resources. Our position is to create an adaptive radio coverage to match the radio resources and user demand. The main approach for creating flexible radio coverage (in our view) is to replace large cells with many small cells that can be switched ON and OFF as needed. The small cells have the added crucial advantage of supporting the very high data rates expected in future networks. The proposed approach will rely on developing advanced Self Organizing Network (SON) techniques to deploy, monitor and manage radio resources in the small cells. This paper discusses requirements for this approach and how it can be implemented within the SON.