Cell Discovery in 5G HetNets Using Location-Based Cell Selection

Future heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are going to consist of cellular macro cell base stations (macro-BSs) and various types of small cell base stations (SC-BS), each operating in microwave and/or millimeter bands. Cell discovery of mm-wave SC-BSs is a challenging issue because of the limited communication range. In this paper, a location-based cell selection scheme that takes into account the effects of inaccuracy of the location estimation is introduced. The proposed scheme selects the SC-BSs according to the probability that they can reach the UE. This probability is dynamically calculated and updated during the search process to assure that at any step the SCBS with highest detection probability is selected and assigned. The simulation results show a 30% reduction in the latency of the proposed cell discovery compared to the conventional scheme. Furthermore, even more than 70% reduction in latency is possible if the proposed algorithm is extended to simultaneously select three SC-BSs with maximum joint probability of detection.