Downlink Transmit Power Allocation in Soft Fractional Frequency Reuse Systems

Downlink transmit power allocation schemes are proposed for soft fractional frequency reuse (FFR) in loose and tightly coordinated systems. The transmit powers are allocated so that the loss of spectral efficiency from the soft FFR is minimized, and the required cell edge user throughput is guaranteed. The effect of the soft FFR on spectral efficiency is evaluated depending on the power allocation schemes and the number of subbands. Results show that the loss of spectral efficiency from the soft FFR can be reduced by configuring an appropriate number of subbands in the loosely coordinated systems. In tightly coordinated systems, results show that the loss of spectral efficiency can be minimized regardless of the number of subbands due to its fast coordination.