Energy Efficiency Analysis of Dense Small Cell Networks with Caching at Base Stations

Dense small cell networks have been considered as a promising solution for improving system throughput in the future 5G networks. When a large number of small cells are overlapped, serious inter-cell interference (ICI) becomes one of the major technical challenges. Meanwhile, the energy efficiency (EE) of dense small cell networks is of great concern. So, in this paper, we attempt to explore the potential of EE of cooperative dense small cell networks with caching at each small cell base stations (SCBS). By adopting a random spatial network model, we formulate the user-centric cooperative interference mitigation strategy and derive an approximate expression of the successful transmission probability to the typical user. By deriving the closed-form expression of the EE based on interference mitigation method, we analyze the relationship between EE and the cache hit ratio. Through numerical and simulation based on analysis, we demonstrate the feasibility and validity of our analysis.