| In recent years, there has been an extensive popularity of advanced mobile devices, which pushes forward a higher requirement on data rates. Besides, as wireless services migrate from voice centric to data centric, large growth of data traffic has been seen year by year, especially in both outdoor hotspots and indoor scenarios, which demands increased coverage extension to provide satisfactory user experience. By deploying additional Low Power Nodes (LPNs), e.g. picocells, femtocells and relays, under the coverage area of a macrocell, Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) in LTE-A makes it possible for terminals to get closer to Base Stations (BSs), which can achieve better spectrum efficiency, and HetNet has been heralded as the most promising approach to increase both the coverage and capacity of future cellular networks in a cost-effective and energy-aware manner.Regarding the implementation of LTE-A HetNet system level simulation platform as a basic goal, and through sufficient investigation and evaluation on Inter Cell Interference Coordination (ICIC) technique, this paper aims to provide meaningful references for network planning and optimization in the future.Firstly, some related concepts and technology researching progress of LTE-A HetNet are introduced, key techniques like Cell Range Expansion (CRE) strategies and ICIC techniques are investigated. A system level simulation platform of LTE-A HetNet is designed and implemented, while the performance of CRE, Almost Blank Subframe (ABS) and the improved ABS is evaluated. Furthermore, based on the simulation platform, the research on diverse CRE strategies is executed, and for each specific CRE strategy, Coordinated Multi-Point (CoMP) technique is applied to mitigate the fierce Inter Cell Interference (ICI). Through system level simulations, the performance of diverse CRE strategies and the influence of CoMP user decision threshold on the system are discussed. |
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