Moving small cells in public safety networks

In order to accommodate the growing traffic demands from moving users, the next generation heterogeneous networks (HetNets) are considering the deployment of moving small cells (mSCs). mSC is a user-centric network and unlike other fixed small cells such as femto and pico cells, these mSCs use wireless backhaul links. mSC provides network services while on the move. In this paper we propose a novel use of mSCs in public safety (PS) networks. In PS environment where there is no network coverage available and the network infrastructure is completely or partially destroyed, these mSCs can provide network services to out-of-coverage users by establishing a connection with their neighboring in-coverage mSC who will act as a relay and further connect them to the core network. Our system-level simulations show that the performance of out-of-coverage users in-terms of achievable throughput significantly improves when mSCs are used in public safety environment.