%0 Journal Article %J International Journal of Communication Systems, Wiley InterScience %D 2018 %T MCS Selection Exploiting Femtocells Utilization in Multicast Transmissions %A Christos Bouras %A Nikolaos Kanakis %A Vasileios Kokkinos %A Nikolaos Papachristos %A Demosthenes Vouyioukas %X Multicast-Broadcast over Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) technology, as introduced by the Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) group, is expected to be part of the upcoming cellular systems offering resource efficiency to broadcast services. MBSFN transmission is suitable to serve multicast groups searching the same content. In addition, the fast emerging technology of femtocells networks and their hybrid nature can lead to efficient resource sharing between non-subscribed users when located inside their coverage. The focus of this manuscript is twofold; firstly, we have contacted simulation experiments to compare the MBSFN transmission with the traditional PTP transmission for various femtocell distributions and network topology changes; secondly, a novel multicast transmissions mechanism is proposed from non-subscribed users who exploit femtocells resources for broadcast services, without limiting user’s data requirements. The simulation results lead to a significant system’s performance in terms of average throughput, total capacity and energy consumption. %B International Journal of Communication Systems, Wiley InterScience %V 31 %G eng %N 10 %0 Conference Paper %B The 14th ACM International Symposium on Mobility Management and Wireless Access (Mobiwac 2016) %D 2016 %T Comparison of Point to Point and MBSFN transmissions in Next Generation Mobile Networks %A Christos Bouras %A Nikos Kanakis %A Vasileios Kokkinos %A Nikolaos Papachristos %A Demosthenes Vouyioukas %X

Multicast/Broadcast Multicast Service over Single Frequency Network (MBSFN) technology has introduced advanced broadcast capabilities to cellular systems. In Long Term Evolution Advanced (LTE-A) systems, MBSFN transmission accommodates multicast groups in search of the same data. In this paper we compare the traditional Point-to-Point (PTP) communication with the MBSFN services through simulation experiments for various femtocell distributions and network configurations. The comparison takes into account the average throughput, overhead cost, energy consumption and capacity gain, concluding that MBSFN through multicast transmission may guarantee performance improvement even for users in the cell boundaries.

%B The 14th ACM International Symposium on Mobility Management and Wireless Access (Mobiwac 2016) %P 169-172 %8 November 13 - 17 %G eng %0 Conference Paper %B European Conference on Networks and Communications, Athens, Greece %D 2016 %T Utilization of Hybrid Access Femtocells During Multicast Transmissions in Mobile Networks %A Christos Bouras %A Nikolaos Kanakis %A Vasileios Kokkinos %A Nikolaos Papachristos %A Demosthenes Vouyioukas %X

Femtocells enhance indoor coverage of mobile services using the owner’s broadband connection. They were initially designed to serve a number of subscribed User Equipments within their range. This design however, resulted in underutilization of the femtocells resources, and simultaneously in high interference levels for nearby non-subscribed users. Nowadays, femtocells can support multicast transmissions, while their hybrid operation allows non-subscribed users to use a portion of their resources. In this paper we propose a novel mechanism that is based on the selection of the appropriate Modulation and Coding Scheme. The mechanism allows non-subscribed users to utilize a portion of the femtocells’ resources for multicast transmissions when located inside their coverage, without affecting the owners’ satisfaction. The simulation results show that depending on the portion of the femtocells’ resources allocated to non-subscribed users, the mechanism may significantly increase the average user throughput.

%B European Conference on Networks and Communications, Athens, Greece %P 190-194 %8 June 27 - 30 %G eng