Long Term Evolution (LTE) is projected to be the mostly used mobile technology before 2020, thanks to the high data rates, all IP-based and simplified architecture it brings compared to previous mobile network technologies. To address the exponential data requirements of the future, a targeted solution for LTE is network densification, i.e., deploying small cells (cells with reduced radius compared to macro cells), which will enable better frequency reuse. However, a challenge here is the backhauling of the evolved-NodeBs (eNBs) used for small cells, since the fiber-based backhauling is costly and is not always feasible given the physical environment. For this, a recent idea is to use LTE self-backhauling, where an eNB can relay its data to another eNB through the use of LTE technology. In this paper, we develop and evaluate an implementation of LTE Self-Backhauling building on an open-source software and commodity hardware (specifically, regular PCs and low-cost software-defined radios) for the LTE system. For this, we implement a self-backhauled eNodeB, which connects to another eNB through an LTE connection. Through physical experimentation using off-the-shelf user equipments (UEs), we show that the method proposed is viable and can improve the network coverage and the throughput of the network.

Peer Reviewed