Adaptive in-band self-backhauling for full-duplex small cells

Recent advancements in the self-interference (SI) cancellation capability of low-power wireless devices pave the way of implementing full-duplex (FD) self-backhauling in small-cell networks. FD self-backhauling allows exploiting the radio spectrum used by the radio access network (RAN) for backhaul links as well as access links concurrently. This paper characterizes the performance of FD self-backhauling for both downlink and uplink transmissions in a two-tier macrocell-small cell network and compares it against half-duplex (HD) selfbackhauling. The performance of small cell base stations (SBSs) with adaptive FD scheme that switches between HD and FD modes depending on the network parameters such as the distance of backhaul link (i.e., link between the macrocell base station and SBS), SI cancellation value at the SBS, and the distance of the served user from the SBS is then numerically analyzed for two different user selection schemes used by the SBS. Numerical results show the usefulness of adaptive FD self-backhauling over FD self-backhauling, especially in fairness-constrained scheduling schemes.