Femtocell Networks

Call for Papers

Recently, there has been a growing interest in femtocell networks both in academia and industry. They offer significant advantages for next-generation broadband wireless communication systems. For example, they eliminate the dead-spots in a macrocellular network. Moreover, due to short communication distances (on the order of tens of meters), they offer significantly better signal qualities compared to the current cellular networks. This makes high-quality voice communications and high data rate multimedia type of applications possible in indoor environments.

However, this new type of technology also comes with its own challenges, and there are significant technical problems that need to be addressed for successful deployment and operation of these networks. Standardization efforts related to femtocell networks in 3GPP (e.g., under TSG-RAN Working Group 4 and LTE-Advanced) and IEEE (e.g., under IEEE 802.16m) are already underway.

The goal of this special issue is to solicit high-quality unpublished research papers on design, evaluation, and performance analysis of femtocell networks. Suitable topics include but are not limited to the following:

  • Downlink and uplink PHY/MAC design for femtocells in 3G systems, WiMAX systems, and LTE systems
  • Interference analysis, avoidance, and mitigation
  • Coexistence between a macrocellular network and femtocell network
  • Resource allocation techniques
  • Closed subscriber group (CSG) versus open-access femtocells
  • Power control and power saving mechanisms (e.g., sleep/idle mode etc.)
  • Mobility support and handover
  • Time synchronization
  • Multiple antenna techniques
  • Tradeoffs between femtocells, picocells, relay networks, and antenna arrays
  • Comparison with other fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) approaches such as UMA/GAN and dual-mode terminals
  • Self-organizing networks and issues in self maintenance and self install
  • Issues related to enterprise femtocells

Before submission, authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/wcn/guidelines.html. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/, according to the following timetable:

Manuscript DueSeptember 1, 2009
First Round of ReviewsDecember 1, 2009
Publication DateMarch 1, 2010

Lead Guest Editor

  • Ismail Guvenc, Wireless Access Laboratory, DOCOMO Communications Laboratories USA, Inc., Palo Alto, CA 94304, USA

Guest Editors