An energy efficient cell selection scheme for Open Access femtocell networks

The exponential increase in high rate traffic driven by a new generation of wireless devices is expected to overload cellular network capacity in the near future. Femtocells have recently been proposed as an efficient and cost-effective approach to enhance cellular network capacity and coverage. However, dense and unplanned deployment of additional Base Stations and their uncoordinated operation may increase the system power consumption. Thus, efficient schemes are essential for managing femtocells activity and improving the system performance. In this paper, we investigate the effect of femtocell deployment on the cellular network energy efficiency. The goal is twofold: first, we aim to analyse how classic femtocell access schemes affect the system energy consumption; second, we propose a novel cell selection scheme for Open Access femtocells that allows the effective deployment of femtocells in the cellular network reducing power consumption and limiting the effect of interference.