A New Relay Based Dynamic Load Balancing Scheme in Cellular Networks

In cellular networks, mobile users in hot cells may suffer from low throughput due to the load imbalance problem. Different approaches such as channel borrowing and cell breathing have been proposed to accommodate this problem. Meanwhile, relay stations, which can extend cell coverage and enhance signal strength for boundary users, appear to be important components in next generation networks. In this paper, we propose a new relay-based load balancing scheme which utilizes relay stations to transfer over-loaded traffic from hot cells to neighboring cooler cells. The proposed algorithm dynamically controls the associations of relay stations to base stations, and the associations of mobile users to relay stations and base stations. Simulation results show that our scheme significantly improves the performance of boundary users without penalizing total system throughput.