Partitioning resource priority regions for hybrid access mode femtocells

While femtocells provide various advantages for associated users, the occurred interference on the macrocell layer remains a severe problem. To resolve such problems, various methods of femtocell operation has been discussed. One way is to operate a femtocell with a hybrid access mode, which allows not only member users but also non-member users to connect to the femtocell. To differentiate the service level and access priority, hybrid mode femtocells exploits a resource partitioning threshold to provide priority resource regions for different types of users. In this paper, we propose a scheme that sets the appropriate partitioning threshold to enhance the downlink performance of the overall network. The threshold value is numerically derived taking into account of the SINR value. Furthermore, we address the procedures of how the required information are acquired for computing and setting the appropriate threshold. Through simulations, we show that our proposed scheme provides high user throughput and low interference to the underlying macrocell layer.