Coverage and Handoff Analysis of 5G Fractal Small Cell Networks

In this study, we are concentrating on Coverage and Hand-off Analysis of 5G Fractal Small Cell Networks. It is anticipated that much higher network capacity will be achieved by the fifth generation (5G) small cell networks incorporated with the millimetre wave (mm Wave) technology. However, mm Wave signals are more sensitive to blockages than signals in lower frequency bands, which highlights the effect of an-isotropic path loss in network coverage. According to the fractal characteristics of cellular coverage, a multi-directional path loss model is proposed for 5G small cell networks, where different directions are subject to different path loss exponents.

Furthermore, the coverage probability, association probability, and the hand-off probability are derived for 5G fractal small cell networks based on the proposed multi-directional path loss model. Numerical results indicate that the coverage probability with the multi-directional path loss model is less than that with the isotropic path loss model, and the association probability with long link distance, e.g., 150m, increases obviously with the increase of the effect of an-isotropic path loss in 5G fractal small cell networks. Moreover, it is observed that the an-isotropic propagation environment is having a profound impact on the hand-off performance. Meanwhile, we could conclude that the resulting heavy hand-off overhead is emerging as a new challenge for 5G fractal small cell networks.