Cell discovery in 5G HetNets using location-based cell selection

Future heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are going to consist of cellular macro cell base stations (macro-BSs) and various types of small cell base stations (SC-BS), each operating in microwave and/or millimeter bands. Cell discovery of mm-wave SC-BSs is a challenging issue because of the limited communication range. In this paper, a location-based cell selection scheme that takes into account the effects of inaccuracy of the location estimation is introduced. The proposed scheme selects the SC-BSs according to the probability that they can reach the UE. This probability is dynamically calculated and updated during the search process to assure that at any step the SC-BS with highest detection probability is selected and assigned. The simulation results show a 30% reduction in the latency of the proposed cell discovery compared to the conventional scheme. Furthermore, even more than 70% reduction in latency is possible if the proposed algorithm is extended to simultaneously select three SC-BSs with maximum joint probability of detection.