QoS and channel-aware packet bundeling for capacity improvement in cellular networks

We study the problem of multiple packet bundling to improve spectral efficiency in cellular networks. The packet size of real-time data, such as VoIP, is often very small. However, the common use of time division multiplexing limits the number of VoIP users supported, because a packet has to wait until it receives a time slot, and if only one small VoIP packet is placed in a time slot, capacity is wasted. Packet bundling can alleviate such a problem by sharing a time slot among multiple users. A recent revision of cdma2000 1xEV-DO introduced the concept of the multi-user packet (MUP) in the downlink to overcome limitations on the number of time slots. However, the efficacy of packet bundling is not well understood, particularly in the presence of time varying channels. We propose a novel QoS and channel-aware packet bundling algorithm that takes advantage of adaptive modulation and coding. We show that optimal algorithms are NP-complete, recommend heuristic approaches, and use analytical performance modeling to show the gains in capacity that can be achieved from our packet bundling algorithms. We show that channel utilization can be significantly increased by slightly delaying some real-time packets within their QoS requirements while bundling those packets with like channel conditions. We validate our study through extensive OPNET simulations with a complete EV-DO implementation.Supported in part by U.S. National Science Foundation under grant no. 072971

Analytical evaluation of higher order sectorization, frequency reuse, and user classification methods in OFDMA networks

Higher order sectorization (HOS), which splits macrocells into a larger number of smaller sectors, are receiving significant interest as a cost-effective means of improving network capacity. Potentially, the capacity gain with HOS is proportionally linear to the number of sectors per cell due to spatial reuse, but factors such as non-ideal antenna radiation patterns together with inter-cell interference can significantly reduce this capacity gain. We develop a statistical model to theoretically characterize the performance of HOS deployments in wireless networks using orthogonal frequency division multiple access. Moreover, a fractional frequency reuse scheme is considered, which aids to mitigate inter-cell interference. The model provides a fast and effective tool for studying network performance in terms of user signal quality, site throughput, and outage probability, and it can be used to speed up network planning and optimization. In addition, we consider the impact of user classification methods in the analysis, and propose a new spectrum efficiency-based user classification method that improves resource utilization and allocation fairness. Performance results indicate that the proposed model is accurate, and shows a diminishing performance gain of HOS deployments with the number of sectors. The proposed user classification method improves network performances with respect to the state-of-the-art approaches