Heterogeneous cellular networks (HetNet), in which a large number of low-power nodes such as picocells, femtocells and relay nodes overlay traditional macrocell networks, have been heralded as the most promising way to enhance network performance and meet future customer needs. By deploying more network infrastructures, cellular networks will be made closer to end-users, thus enhancing radio link quality and spatial spectrum reuse in a cost-effective manner. Among the lower-power nodes, femtocells play a key role due to their user-deployed, low-cost, low-power and low electromagnetic (EM) exposure characteristics, as well as their advantages in providing indoor coverage. Hence, femtocell technologies may accelerate the cost-effective provision of ubiquitous broadband services by convergence between fixed and wireless broadband. This full day workshop aims to bring together internationally leading academic and industrial perspectives, and discuss recent progress in femtocell technologies. The list of promising new developments includes cooperative networks for interference mitigation in heterogeneous networks made of macro/pico/femto cells, extending the classical concept of indoor femtocells to outdoors, e.g., fixed relays in macrocells for enhancing coverage and cell-edge capacity, mobile femtocells in public transports, and self-organising (SON) techniques for high capacity and optimum use of transmit power whilst minimising OPEX and simplifying complexity for remote network management.
Scope and Objectives:
In view of current standardization activities in 3GPP and IEEE, changing regulatory landscape and impetus from industrial bodies such as Femto Forum, this workshop focuses on presenting and debating advanced femtocell technologies that have the potential to be considered in future standards such as LTE-A to make the radio access solutions highly efficient with major leapfrog in spectral-efficiency per unit area, while minimizing transmit power