A novel relay selection scheme for LTE-advanced system under delay and load constraints

Deploying decode-and-forward relay nodes is a promising solution for LTE-advanced networks in order to meet the growing data rate demand and the challenging requirements for coverage extension. However, relay selection scheme plays a crucial role in enhancing the benefit of this technology. In this paper, we have proposed a new relay selection scheme which achieves a more balanced load in the network, respects the user´s quality of service requirements, but more importantly, avoids recurrent handovers and reduces the transmission delay. Simulation results proved a significant enhancement of the system performance in terms of outage probability, total system throughput and delay as compared to common relay selection strategies.