Mobility Management Challenges in 3GPP Heterogeneous Networks

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive review of the handover process in heterogeneous networks (HetNets), and identify technical challenges in mobility management. In this line, we evaluate the mobility performance of HetNets with 3GPP Release-10 range expansion and enhanced inter-cell interference coordination (eICIC) features such as almost blank subframes. Simulation assumptions and parameters of a related study item in 3GPP are used to investigate the impact of various handover parameters on mobility performance. In addition, we propose a mobility-based ICIC (MB-ICIC) scheme, in which picocells configure coordinated resources so that macrocells can schedule their high-mobility User Equipments (UEs) in these resources without co-channel interference from picocells. MB-ICIC also benefits low-mobility UEs, since handover parameters can now be more flexibly optimized. Simulations using the 3GPP simulation assumptions are performed to evaluate the performance of MBICIC under several scenarios.