Green operation of LTE-A femtocell networks benefiting from centralized control

Abstract

Green operation of a specific category of femtocell networks, where a central controller can control the network within the premises of a campus or building, is investigated. An energy efficient approach for switching off redundant femtocell access points (FAPs) is proposed. It consists of selecting the best FAP to switch off, then moving the femto user equipments (FUEs) to other active FAPs without compromising their quality of service (QoS). Simulation results show that significant energy savings are obtained with the proposed approach, while satisfying QoS requirements.