Base station assisted search approach for mitigation of pilot pollution interference

The pilot pollution interference (PPI) problem occurs when the mobile station conducts handoff process and searches for strong pilot signals from the neighboring cells. The improper handoff search window setting plays a key role in the creation of the PPI problem. Consequently, the existence of the PPI problem affects the progress and termination of the ongoing calls, impacts the origination of fresh calls, delays the handoff process and decreases the system capacity. In this paper, a base station assisted search (BSAS) approach is proposed to minimize the impact of the PPI problem. The proposed BSAS approach is integrated with a modified MAHAR-A approach to alleviate the influence of the PPI as well as improve the system´s QoS measured by the call blocking probability and the handoff dropping probability. Simulation experiments clearly indicate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.