Advanced interference management for 5G cellular networks

As 4G cellular systems densify their cell deployment, co-channel interference becomes a major source of obstacles to cell throughput improvement. In addition, cell edge users suffer more from co-channel interference, which may govern end users´ experiences. Although some network-side solutions for co-channel interference management have been introduced in current 4G standards, it turns out that most of those solutions yield only meager gains in realistic cellular environments. In this article, we pay attention to recent advances in the network information theory and discuss the benefits of UE-side approaches. Based on this understanding, we provide our vision on advanced interference management for 5G cellular systems: network-side interference management needs to be complemented by UE-side interference management to realize true factor-one resource reuse. We also discuss practical challenges to deploy advanced interference management and their implications on 5G system design. Prospective gains of advanced interference management are demonstrated, and it is shown that the benefits of advanced receivers can be well exploited if 5G cellular networks employ elaborated joint scheduling.