Data rate and handoff rate analysis for user mobility in cellular networks

Abstract

The expected data rate and the handoff rate are important performance metrics in mobile wireless communications. In this paper, we consider a single-tier homogeneous cellular network and provide a stochastic geometric framework for analysis of the expected downlink data rate and the handoff rate for a moving user equipment (UE). To investigate a tradeoff between frequent and infrequent handoffs, we consider two scenarios, in one of which a UE experiences a handoff whenever it crosses a boundary between two coverage areas of base stations (BSs), and in the other a UE does not experience any handoffs during a fixed period of time. In each scenario, we derive analytical expressions for the two performance metrics for a moving UE. From the analysis, we find that, when a UE experiences a handoff whenever it crosses a boundary between BS coverage areas, the expected downlink data rate per unit of time is invariant from that for a static UE. On the other hand, when a UE does not do during a fixed period of time, both the handoff rate and the expected data rate depend on the distribution of the moving speed even when its average is preserved. We expect that our study can make a step forward in understanding data transmission in the situation where UEs are moving with variable speed.