Hybrid User Association with Proactive Auxiliary Intervention for Multitier Cellular Networks

In this paper, we consider a hybrid user association (HUA) problem for load balancing of multitier cellular networks. The proposed hierarchical HUA approach builds on a combination of decentralized user association (DUA) and auxiliary intervention of a central control unit (CCU). A major challenge with the CCU intervention is the time interval determined by a selected CCU control cycle during which the DUA must accept all users that satisfy the prevailing association criterion while proactively mitigating potential resource depletions. Consequently, the primary focus of this work is on relating the control cycle of the CCU intervention with the incipient resource depletions, according to a maximum allowed resource depletion probability. By uniquely combining a set of mathematical tools from stochastic geometry and queueing theory, we present a novel HUA method which evaluates the association bias values of the DUA according to a CCU-optimized load vector and enables tier-based resource depletion probability provisioning over finite control cycles. The trade-offs between the proposed HUA method and the standard DUA approach are demonstrated via network simulations with flow-level spatiotemporal dynamics.