Method and apparatus for providing increased small cell resource utilization

1. A method of determining a bias parameter for a heterogeneous network including a small cell, a macro cell, and a plurality of user equipment (UEs), the small cell being underlaid with respect to the macro cell, the method comprising:

determining, at a base station of the small cell, a loading state of the macro cell by

performing a first incrementing operation at the base station by incrementing a bias parameter, the bias parameter being a parameter which controls a tendency of the plurality of UEs to be handed over from the macro cell to the small cell,

determining, after incrementing the bias parameter, whether a small cell load increases, the small cell load being a number of the plurality of UEs connected to the small cell, and

determining the loading state of the macro cell based on whether or not the small cell load increased after incrementing the bias parameter; and

setting, at the base station of the small cell, the bias parameter based on the determined loading state.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining step includes determining whether the loading state of the macro cell is a high load state or a low load state.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein if the loading state is a high load state, setting the bias parameter includes incrementally increasing the bias parameter until a desired number of UEs are attached to the small cell.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein if the loading state is a low load state, setting the bias parameter includes incrementally decreasing the bias parameter until a desired number of UEs are attached to the small cell.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heterogeneous network follows the long term evolution (LTE) protocol and implements an enhanced inter cell interference coordination (eICIC) scheme.

6. A method of determining a cell border window (CBW) for a small cell included in a heterogeneous network, the heterogeneous network further including a macro cell, the small cell being underlaid with respect to the macro cell, the small cell having a plurality of attached UEs which are divided into inner cell UEs and border cell UEs, the method comprising:

determining, at a base station of the small cell, a difference value based on utilization values of the inner cell UEs and the border cell UEs; and

adjusting the CBW based on the difference value and a threshold value.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the CBW is a parameter which controls a tendency of UEs from among the plurality of attached UEs to be inner cell UEs or border cell UEs.

8. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

initializing the CBW as a value between upper and lower CBW limits;

determining, at the base station, an inner utilization value based on a resource utilization of the inner cell UEs; and

determining, at the base station, a border utilization value based on a resource utilization of the border cell UEs,

wherein the difference value is determined based on the inner utilization value and the border utilization value.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein determining the difference value includes

comparing the inner utilization and the border utilization,

calculating a difference between the inner utilization and the border utilization, and

determining the calculated difference to be the difference value.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein,

if the base station determines the difference value is above the threshold value and the inner utilization is higher than the border utilization value, the adjusting step includes increasing the CBW until the difference value becomes less than the threshold or the CBW exceeds the upper CBW limit, and

if the base station determines the difference value is above the threshold value and the inner utilization is lower than the border utilization value, the adjusting step includes decreasing the CBW until the difference value becomes less than the threshold or the CBW becomes lower than the lower CBW limit.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

completing adjustment of the CBW if the CBW is in between the upper and lower CBW limits, and the difference value is below the threshold;

adjusting the CBW to equal the upper CBW limit and completing adjustment of the CBW if the CBW is above the upper CBW limit; and

adjusting the CBW to equal the lower CBW limit and completing adjustment of the CBW if the CBW is below the lower CBW limit.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

determining an almost blank subframe (ABS) pattern proposal and sending the ABS pattern proposal from the base station to the macro cell if the base station determines the difference value is above the threshold value and the adjusted CBW is greater than the upper CBW limit or lesser than the lower CBW limit.

13. The method of claim 6 , wherein the heterogeneous network follows the long term evolution (LTE) protocol and implements an enhanced inter cell interference coordination (eICIC) scheme.

14. An network apparatus for supporting wireless communications of one or more user equipment (UEs) in a small cell included in communications network, the network further including a macro cell, the small cell being underlaid with respect to the macro cell, the apparatus comprising:

a receiver unit configured to receive data;

a transmitting unit configured to transmit data;

a memory unit configured to store parameters corresponding with characteristics of the small cell; and

a processing unit coupled to the transmitting unit, the receiving unit, and the memory unit and configured to control operations associated with determining network parameters for use within the network, the operations including at least one of,

(1) determining a bias parameter for the network by

determining, a loading state of the macro cell, and

setting the bias parameter based on the loading state, and

(2) determining a cell border window (CBW) for the small cell by

determining a difference value based on utilization values of inner cell UEs and the border cell UEs of the small cell; and

adjusting the CBW based on the difference value and a threshold value.

15. The network apparatus of claim 14 , wherein, if the operations include determining the bias parameter, the bias parameter is a parameter which controls a tendency of the one or more UEs to be handed over from the macro cell to the small cell.

16. The network apparatus of claim 15 , wherein, if the operations include determining the bias parameter, determining the loading state includes determining whether the loading state of the macro cell is an overload state, a high load state of a low load state.

17. The network apparatus of claim 16 , wherein, if the operations include determining the bias parameter

setting the bias parameter includes setting the bias parameter to a maximum bias value level if the loading state is an overload state,

setting the bias parameter includes incrementally increasing the bias parameter until a desired number of UEs are attached to the small cell if the loading state is a high load state, and

setting the bias parameter includes incrementally decreasing the bias parameter until a desired number of UEs are attached to the small cell if the loading state is a low load state.

18. The network apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the CBW is a parameter which controls a tendency of UEs from among a plurality of attached UEs to be inner UEs or border UEs.

19. The network apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the processor is further configured to:

initializie the CBW as a value between upper and lower CBW limits;

determine an inner utilization value based on a resource utilization of the inner cell UEs; and

determine a border utilization value based on a resource utilization of the border cell UEs,

wherein the difference value is determined based on the inner utilization value and the border utilization value.