Access regulation in cellular wireless networks

This thesis addresses various methods of access regulation and transmission control protocols in a cellular wireless environment. In particular, we are concerned with using various properties of the cellular architectures under considerations and their users to improve the overall performance of the cellular network. In the first part of this thesis we show that by using the bursty nature of voice communications in a Reservation Random Access (RRA) scheme we improve the capacity of the system by a factor of 2 over a conventional fixed-assigned TDMA system. Furthermore, we show that this RRA scheme could be used to eliminate dropping of handoff calls by the system. Next we concern ourselves with transmission of data. In particular we consider networks in which a user needs to start its transmission within a fixed period of time. a user has a single packet to transmit either in the cell it arrives in or the other cell in the system. In our analysis, we examine the effects of giving service preference to handoff users over new arrivals and vice versa. The results of this analysis show that for a given loading of the system different service protocols could be used to increase the throughput and minimize the delay. Next we consider a continuous time cellular architecture for transmission of data messages. In this system, users move from cell to cell until either they obtain service or their system time expires. Once a user obtains service from a cell it stays in that cell for the duration of its message. Such a network can be used in places such as shopping malls and libraries where users need to access a backbone network while on the move but stop moving once their connection is established. We evaluate the performance of the system for different service protocols and evaluate their sensitivity to changes in various system design parameters. These protocols can take into account the amount of time the users have spent in the system, the direction the users are traveling, the handoff rates and the loading of the system. We show that by using appropriate protocols the throughput of the system could be maximized with little or no penalty in the delay performance of the users in the system.