Optimal Load Balancing and Its Heuristic Implementation in a Heterogeneous Relay Network

Heterogeneous networks utilizing relay nodes with low transmission power becomes an important deployment scenario in 4G cellular standards. It can offer high data rate delivery as well as ubiquitous end-user experience. For such a network, an efficient mobile association and load balancing scheme is critical to achieve high system capacity and satisfactory user experience. In this paper, the main challenges for mobile association and load balancing in a heterogeneous network with relay nodes are discussed and addressed. An optimal framework that aims to maximize system capacity is presented. It considers both the relay backhaul resource usage and wireless access link resource availability. A heuristic algorithm that enables the practical implementation is proposed and evaluated. Simulation results show that the proposed mobile association and load balancing scheme outperforms the conventional schemes in a heterogeneous environment.