An overview of cell association in heterogeneous network: Load balancing and interference management perspective

Rapid growth in data traffic necessitates a proportional growth and improvement in the capacity of cellular networks. A heterogeneous network in which macro cells are overlaid with small cells is a cost efficient and effective paradigm shift for increasing the network traffic capacity. Unplanned deployment of low power base stations with divergent power levels introduces new challenges in heterogeneous network cell association problem, thus, requiring innovative cell association schemes. An efficient cell association scheme must consider balancing the load among different base stations while minimizing the interference at the same time. In this article we provide an overview of different load balancing and interference management schemes used in cellular networks. We would discuss the importance of each in heterogeneous network as well as cell association challenges involved, and give some ideas for handing those challenges.