Utility-Optimal Multi-Pattern Reuse in Multi-Cell Networks

Achieving sufficient spatial capacity gain through the use of small cells requires careful consideration of inter-cell interference (ICI) management via BS power coordination coupled with user scheduling inside cells. Optimal algorithms are known to be difficult to implement due to high computation and signaling overhead. This study proposes joint pattern-based ICI management and user scheduling algorithms that are practically implementable. The key idea is to decompose the original problem into two sub-problems in which ICI management is run at a slower time scale than user scheduling. We empirically show that even with such a slow tracking of system dynamics at the ICI management part, the decomposed approach achieves a considerable performance increase compared to conventional universal reuse schemes.