Approximating the othercell interference distribution in inhomogeneous UMTS networks

We present an analytical model for computing the othercell interference distribution in a third generation UMTS network with inhomogeneous user distribution. Our proposed model is based on an iterative calculation of a fixed-point equation which describes the interdependence of the interference levels at neighboring base stations. Furthermore, we develop an efficient algorithm based on lognormal approximations to compute the mean and standard deviation of the othercell interference. We show that our model is accurate and fast enough to be used efficiently in the planning process of large UMTS networks.