A complete femtocell network modeling and development platform

Femtocells have emerged as an alternative solution for operators to improve coverage and throughput in indoor environments. However, modeling and development platforms are still needed in order to test implementation-specific characteristics of femtocells, such as interference mitigation techniques and self-organizing algorithms. Using OPNET, a high fidelity simulation environment for wireless networks, a femtocell modeling and development platform is created, closely following the specifications dictated by 3GPP regarding the entities, functionalities, procedures, and message formats for femtocell networks. It is shown how the platform reflects the effect of both interference and backhaul degradation on the overall performance of the network, which represent the key concerns for operators nowadays regarding femtocell deployments.