A novel technique for cross-cell interference mitigation using joint encoding

Abstract

MIMO broadcast networks are an emerging technique for maximizing resource sharing in dense cellular networks; by using techniques based on dirty-paper coding, it is possible for a single transmitter to simultaneously service multiple receivers, by pre-subtracting interference. A different but related problem is InterCell Interference Coordination, where two network nodes with overlapping coverage regions simultaneously transmit to UEs attached to them, but coordinate so as to not cause cross-cell interference. In this paper, we propose a novel method called `Active NullForming' which mitigates cross-cell interference using interference presubtraction. We show that we can achieve significant performance improvement over existing methods such as zero-forcing beamforming.