Centralized SON function for operator optimal strategies in heterogeneous networks

Recently emerging fourth generation networks, notably LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), are expected to meet the requirements of higher bit rates with excellent quality of service (QoS). The expansion and heterogeneity of these networks have made their operational cost higher, resulting in harder tasks for operators to remain competitive. Therefore, automatic engineering has recently been considered as a promising method in remote network management and human intervention minimization. Self-organizing networks (SONs) offer the possibility of remotely controlling the network in both pre-operational and operational states through self-configuration, self-optimization, and self-healing. In this paper, we propose a global handover self-optimization (HSOP) algorithm that jointly treats load balancing, energy saving, and ICI issues and can be deployed in a dynamic, automatic, and centralized way. Our proposed HSOP algorithm allows the mobile operator to choose the best HSOP strategy according to the network characteristics (place, time, user equipment type, and priority, etc.). Therefore, a traffic model must be available for the operator to indicate the input parameters of our global SON algorithm.