Adaptive rate scheduling for 3G networks with shared resources using the generalized processor sharing performance model

Abstract

In current and next 3G and beyond wideband code-division with multiple access (WCDMA) cellular networks, sharing the radio access network has become an important issue for 3G mobile operators. 3G and beyond network rollout is a very costly and time consuming process. Therefore, sharing of network infrastructure among operators offers an alternative solution to reducing the investment in the coverage phase of WCDMA. In radio access network (RAN) sharing method, which is our focus in this study, each operator has its own core network and only the RAN is shared. It implies that multiple operators fully share the same RAN. Without an efficient RRM, one operator can exhausts the capacity of others. This study tackles an efficient scheduling to provide maximum system throughput and proportional fairness in accordance with operator capacity share through adaptive resource allocation scheme. We refer to this new scheme as Multi-operators Code Division Generalized Processor sharing scheme (M-CDGPS). It employs both adaptive rate allocation to maximize the resource utilization and GPS techniques to provide fair services for each operator. The performance analysis in terms of bounded delay and queue size are obtained.