Handover-related self-optimization in femtocells: A survey and an interaction study

Femtocells enable LTE technology when deployed in large numbers. However, every femtocell needs to self-optimize its control parameters in response to surrounding dynamic events. This paper focuses on self-optimization use cases related to handovers in LTE femtocell networks including: handover self-optimization, call admission control self-optimization and load balancing self-optimization. These three use cases can interact either constructively or destructively. To the best of our knowledge, no previous work has addressed the nature of this interaction. Therefore, we survey proposed schemes for each one of these handover-related self-optimization use cases after which three representative schemes have been identified. These schemes are used in our interaction study using our in-house MATLAB-written and LTE compliant simulation environment. Based on interaction simulation results, we recommend a set of guidelines to follow when coordinating between these interacting handover-related self-optimization use cases in LTE femtocell networks.