Effect of Intercell Interference on the SNIR of a Multihop Cellular Network

Abstract

In a multihop cellular network, the physical layer of mobile terminals is modified so that in addition to being able to transmit to base stations, mobile terminals are able to transmit directly to other mobile terminals. This allows mobile terminals to lower their maximum transmission power and use other terminals as repeaters to forward their packets to the base station. Multihop cellular networks may have a higher capacity than traditional cellular networks due to their potential of lower intercell interference. Intercell interference may be lower because the maximum transmission power of terminals is decreased. The effects of intercell interference in a multihop cellular network is investigated in this paper. Previous simulation results of a one-cell system show that the SNIR of a multihop cellular network is slightly lower than that of a traditional cellular network. However, our simulations of a network with many cells show that the overall SNIR of a multihop cellular network is in fact higher than in a traditional cellular network because of lower intercell interference. Previous simulation results of a one-cell system show that the total energy consumption of a multihop cellular network is lower than that of a traditional cellular network. Our simulations of a multihop cellular network show that the savings in energy consumption are even greater when a network with many cells is considered.