Wireless Communication Simulation Model for Traffic Monitoring Systems Based on Dynamic Cellular Handoffs

Abstract

Technology for tracking with handoff-based cellular probes is one of the most important modern methods of traffic monitoring. Some simulation frameworks have been proposed to investigate the key issues in such systems. However, most existing simulation approaches rely on assumptions of cell boundaries and handoff points; these assumptions may lead to inaccurate predictions of the performance of real systems. The proposed model incorporated the actual communication mechanism for cell phone signals used in real-world cellular networks. In the proposed simulation framework, cell boundaries were dynamic, cell sizes varied, and the handoff process was controlled by actual protocols for cellular communication. An algorithm for handoff pattern matching is also presented. The algorithm deals with the dynamic handoff sequence for the purposes of traffic detection. The approach was verified with a calibrated simulation road network. The impacts of two important factors, call duration and probe penetration, were also investigated. The results showed that the proposed simulation platform for wireless communication could produce more reliable results and gain deeper insights into the performance of the handoff-based cellular traffic monitoring systems than had been achieved through the traditional simulation approaches.