On the performance of hybrid macro/microdiversity in the reverse-link microcellular networks

We investigate hybrid macro/microdiversity employed in the reverse-link of microcellular wireless networks where low power, small and cost-effective radio access ports are linked to a central unit. We propose a new macro-selection strategy to improve the conventional macrodiversity selection technique. Furthermore, the issue of macrodiversity maximal ratio combining in non-CDMA microcellular networks is investigated as a natural extension of the soft handover of the already established CDMA cellular systems. The proposed schemes have performance advantage over the conventional macrodiversity method at a modest extra processing. Although the presented analysis is for a non-CDMA system, it can be extended to a CDMA system.