Single-Tone Signaling Design for Intercell Interference Management With Applications to Femtocell Networks

Over-the-air intercell signaling is one of the most effective means for fast, distributed, and dynamic intercell interference management (ICIM), which is the key to maintaining the quality of service (QoS) and fairness in most interference-dominant networks, such as femtocell networks. However, the design of this type of signaling is challenging. In this paper, we address these challenges and propose an effective solution, which we refer to as single-tone signaling (STS). The proposed STS possesses many highly desirable and crucial properties for ICIM, such as strong resistance to interference, deep coverage, low overhead, and most of all, the lack of the need for dedicated resources. In addition, STS provides an effective means of estimating interference channels for advanced interference management. The effectiveness of STS is demonstrated through applications to a femtocell network.