Centralized Self-Optimization Performance of eICIC and AAS in LTE-A: A Comparison

Centralized Self-Optimization techniques has been gaining interest in the telecommunications community to automate the manual optimization process thereby bringing CAPital EXpenditure (CAPEX) and OPerational EXpenditure (OPEX) gains to the operator. We have developed in our previous work, a novel iterative self-optimization methodology based on surrogate functions to model functional relationships between the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and network (configuration) parameters. These relationships are then used by an optimization engine to compute the optimized network parameters which are injected back into the network and the process continues iteratively. In this paper, we use the proposed methodology to solve self-optimization objectives in LTE-A Heterogeneous Networks (HetNets) for two scenarios: enhanced InterCell Interference Coordination (eICIC) and Active Antenna Systems (AAS) based optimization. Results obtained using a network simulator provides a comparison of the two scenarios with relative advantages and disadvantages in a centralized self organizing context.