Performance analysis of soft handoff in CDMA cellular networks

The code-division multiple-access (CDMA) scheme has been considered as one possible choice of the future standards for cellular networks because of its various advantages. Since there can be only one carrier frequency being used in CDMA systems, a handoff scheme with diversity, a so-called “soft handoff”, was proposed for higher communication quality and capacity. A mathematical model is developed to analyze the soft handoff process. Markov's concept is applied to describe the system's steady state statistical behavior. System performance such as blocking probability, handoff refused probability, and channel efficiency are also determined. It is concluded that the larger the area the soft handoff region is, the better users in the cellular network will feel     

Performance analysis of soft handoff in CDMA cellular networks

A unique feature of code division multiple access (CDMA) systems is the use of soft handoff between cells. Soft handoff, in general, increases the system capacity because while the link between a mobile and one base station is poor, it might be better between the same mobile and some other base station. Hence, the user may transmit at a lower power in a soft handoff situation. Teletraffic analysis of soft handoff is complex because one cannot separate transmission issues from traffic issues. Many papers in the literature have independently analyzed the effect of soft capacity and soft handoff on network performance. Some papers have analyzed the effect of soft handoff on soft capacity but there has been no proper teletraffic analysis that includes both soft capacity and soft handoff. This paper proposes a traffic model for a DS-CDMA cellular network that includes both soft capacity and soft handoff. Network performance is then computed in terms of call blocking     

Characterization of soft handoff in CDMA systems

Many analytical approaches have been proposed for handoff analysis based on hard handoff in mobile communication systems. In code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems with soft handoff, mobile stations (MSs) within a soft handoff region (SR) use multiple radio channels and receive their signals from multiple base stations (BSs) simultaneously. Therefore, the SRs should be considered for handoff analysis in CDMA systems. An analytical model for soft handoff in CDMA systems is developed by introducing an overlap region between adjacent cells and the handoff call attempt rate and the channel holding times are derived. Applying these results to a nonprioritized CDMA system, the effects of soft handoff and the mean cell residual time are investigated and compared with hard handoff     

Substream-based soft handoff in CDMA cellular networks

We present a new soft handoff scheme that enhances the reliability during soft handoff by increasing the signal distance (Euclidean and/or Hamming) in forward link code division multiple access cellular networks. Each base station participating in soft handoff sends a disjoint subset of the main data stream (called sub-stream) and the mobile receiver reassembles the sub-streams and restores the main data stream. This approach can reduce the data rate per base station by a factor of the number of participating base stations and thereby can increase the signal distance as opposed to the diversity gain. It is shown that the proposed soft handoff scheme is promising for high data rate applications which are the major interests in the next generation cellular networks.     

Load analysis of the soft handoff scheme in a CDMA cellular system

In a code-division multiple-access cellular system, the soft handoff with macrodiversity is known to increase the number of available channels in each cell from the interference-reduced radio environment. This capability, however, also incurs extra load on the system due to the increase in the number of channels occupied and reserved for macrodiversity. The objective is to evaluate the associated loads, thereby enabling effective channel management. We first differentiate two kinds of loads attributable to new and handoff calls, respectively. Further dividing handoff calls into two kinds, we derive a load balance equation from which three different loads at a cell are all exactly obtained in association with the size of the soft handoff region. Comparative analysis with the case of no soft handoff region, i.e., of hard handoff, shows the appropriate proportion of channels reserved for the macrodiversity in a given soft handoff region     

QoS guarantee and power distribution for soft handoff connections in cellular CDMA downlinks

A two-phase power distribution scheme for supporting quality-of-service (QoS) and best effort traffic is proposed. We first formulate the power distribution for QoS traffic as an optimization problem so that the number of simultaneously transmitting connections is maximized. Optimum power distribution is difficult to implement in practice due to both the computational complexity and the requirement for global information about the mobile station (MS) locations, connection channel conditions, and traffic load in the system. We then propose a heuristic scheme of power distribution for soft handoff (SHO) connections. The full scheme includes an initial power distribution (IPD) and a power distribution adjustment (PDA). IPD allocates BS power resource based on the channel condition of each individual connection, while PDA further coordinates the power distribution between neighboring base stations (BSs) in order to accommodate more connections. The proposed power distribution scheme can achieve a capacity close to that of the optimum power distribution, while providing much higher transmission throughput for best effort data traffic. The proposed power distribution scheme can be applied to existing SHO schemes for efficient BS power resource usage. The scheme does not require global information, and its implementation can be further simplified by performing IPD only with slight performance degradation.     

Modeling and performance analysis for soft handoff schemes in CDMA cellular systems

This paper investigates the features of a cellular geometry in code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems with soft handoff and distinguishes controlling area of a cell from coverage area of a cell. Some important characteristics of the cellular configuration in soft handoff systems are used to propose a new design of efficient call admission control (CAC) in CDMA systems. Then, the paper constructs a continuous-time Markov chain (CTMC) model for CAC in CDMA with a soft handoff queue, obtains closed-form solutions, and thus develops loss formulas as performance indices such as the new blocking probability and the handoff dropping probability. In order to determine handoff traffic arrival rate, a fixed-point strategy is developed. Algorithms are also provided to stably compute loss probabilities and to determine the optimal number of guard channels. A new soft handoff scheme-eliminating pseudo handoff calls (EPHC)-is proposed to improve channel utilization efficiency based on mobility information. As an application of the loss formulas, the proposed modeling techniques are used to evaluate and compare the performance of conventional and proposed EPHC soft handoff schemes. Numerical results show the effectiveness of the proposed Markov chain models and the benefits of the new soft handoff scheme.     

CDMA cellular systems performance with fading, shadowing, andimperfect power control

This paper addresses capacity estimation for cellular code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems, assuming the IS-95 standard as a reference. Extending a previous analytical method (Viterbi et al., 1994), we obtain a sequence of bounds on capacity, and then we introduce an accurate approximation to reduce computation complexity. The analysis accounts for interference internal and external to the reference cell, fading, shadowing, and imperfect power control. Outage probability is expressed in terms of the characteristic functions (cf's) of the interference and imperfect power control random variables (RV's). The interference contributions are computed on the basis of a Poisson distribution for the number of users in a lognormally shadowed channel. Results are provided for different channel conditions and are validated against Monte Carlo simulations. A comparison against previously published CDMA capacity estimates is carried out, aimed at clarifying some controversial issues. It is also confirmed that large system capacity is achievable under tight power control     

Admission control for variable spreading gain CDMA cellular system with imperfect power control and shadowing

Variable spreading gain (VSG) CDMA is the prime transmission scheme for supporting multiple services for the next generation cellular systems. As different services have different quality of service and data rate requirements, admission control is essential in safeguarding the performance of different services in VSG‐CDMA cellular systems in harsh wireless environment. In this paper, we propose an admission control scheme for multiple services VSG‐CDMA cellular system in a practical multi‐cell environment where there exist adverse effects due to imperfect power control and shadowing. Rather than with a fixed bound as in previous studies, the admission bound in our scheme is based on the probability distribution of total intra‐cell power (P_in) and other‐cell interference power (I_other). This is used to estimate the blocking probability by utilizing a simple and accurate approximation that incorporates the random nature of P_in and I_other. Evaluation of the impact of power control error to the mean and standard deviation of P_in and I_other, we performed and compared the blocking probability with fixed admission bound scheme in an integrated voice/data environment. Our work has enabled the calculation of the blocking probability and capacity of different mobility users having different power control errors under shadowing. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

一种新的CDMA软切换算法及其对软切换性能的改善

定义了残余容损比(RCLR)的概念,提出了一种新的基于最大RCLR的无线移动CDMA小区系统的软切换判决算法,称之为RCLR算法。区别通常的最小路径损耗(MPOL)算法,RCLR算法不仅考虑了呼叫业务的路径损耗,而且兼顾了小区负载平衡。最后,通过分别在单层小区系统和分层小区系统中进行仿真,比较了RCLR算法和MPOL算法的软切换性能,仿真结果表明RCLR算法显著地改善了呼叫业务的中断概率和分层小区系统的层间溢出概率,减少了软切换次数。     

Performance evaluation of hierarchical cellular CDMA networks with soft handoff queueing

We consider hierarchical cellular code-division multiple-access networks supporting soft handoff, where users with different mobility are assigned to different layers, i.e., microcells in the lower layer are used to carry slow users, whereas macrocells in the upper layer are for fast users, and handoff queues are provided for handoff calls that cannot obtain the required channel immediately, so that forced termination probability can be reduced. According to whether handoff queues are provided in microcells and/or macrocells, four different call admission control schemes are proposed and studied. We derive the mathematical model of the considered system with multidimensional birth-death process and utilize Gauss-Seidel iterative method to find the steady-state probability distribution and thus the performance measures of interest: new call blocking probability, handoff failure probability, and forced termination probability. Analytical results show that providing handoff queues in both microcells and macrocells can achieve largest performance improvement. Furthermore, handoff queue size greater than a threshold is shown to have little effect on performance measures of interest. Last but not least, the studied two-tier system is compared with a one-tier counterpart. It is shown that the two-tier system performs better in terms of average number of handoffs per fast call.     

Performance evaluation of soft handoff considering macrodiversity effect in multimedia CDMA systems

The macrodiversity changes the required transmission power to serve a mobile station according to its location. It helps to improve system performance but also causes unexpected call-dropping after handoff. This effect has been neglected when only voice service is provided. But for multimedia traffics which require high data rates, it should be considered. In this paper, we develop a new analytic model of soft handoff considering this effect. Performances have been evaluated with respect to the blocking probability, the handoff failure probability and the region-transition failure probability, using analytic and simulation method. Especially, the region-transition failure probability is a newly introduced performance factor that has been neglected in previous research. Numerical results are compared with previous analytic model to show the effect of macrodiversity on the system performance. The results of this paper can be used for the system management such as determinations of an optimal resource allocation, a cell configuration, and an admission strategy.     

Comparative analysis of distributed power control algorithms in CDMA

This paper presents comparative analysis of various algorithms of distributed power control used in Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems. These algorithms include Distributed Balancing power control algorithm (DB), Modified Distributed Balancing power control algorithm (MDB), Fully Distributed Power Control algorithm (FDPC), Distributed Power Control algorithm (DPC), Distributed Constrained Power Control algorithm (DCPC), Unconstrained Second-Order Power Control algorithm (USOPC), Constrained Second-Order Power Control algorithm (CSOPC), and Fixed Step Distributed Power Control algorithm (FSDPC). These algorithms are compared based on the rate of convergence to the target signal-to-interference ratio, the rate of convergence of the power, and the rate of convergence of utilities. Simulation results show that the FDPC is the best choice according to these parameters.     

Performance analysis of CDMA with imperfect power control

The standard correlation receiver for code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems is susceptible to the near-far problem. Power control techniques attempt to overcome near-far effects by varying transmitted power levels to ensure that all signals are received with equal power levels. Since these algorithms cannot perfectly compensate for power fluctuations in a mobile communications channel, the capacity of the system is reduced for a given bit-error rate (BER). This paper examines the performance of a CDMA system using imperfect power control by extending analytical techniques that account for multiple access interference. Single cell capacity is compared with systems employing perfect power control     

软切换参数对CDMA1X性能的影响及优化

分析并仿真得到了在CDMA1X系统中,不同业务负载情况下的软切换开销因子与静态和动态软切换门限,以及导频信道功率比例等参数的关系,并在此基础上提出了相应的网络优化措施。仿真采用蒙特卡罗"快照"法,并在进行传播损耗计算时加入了阴影衰落的影响。     

Adaptive channel reservation for call admission control to support prioritized soft handoff calls in a cellular CDMA system

This paper proposes a prioritized call admission control (CAC) model to support soft handoff calls with quality of service (QoS) assurances for both the uplink and downlink connections in a CDMA system. CAC is formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem in which the problem objective is to minimize the handoff forced termination rate. The model, which is based on the adaptive channel reservation (ACR) scheme for prioritized calls, adapts to changes in handoff traffic where the associated parameters (reserved channels, and new and handoff call arrival rates) can be varied. To solve the optimization model, iteration-based Lagrangean relaxation is applied by allocating a time budget. We express our achievements in terms of the problem formulation and performance improvement. Computational experiments demonstrate that the proposed ACR scheme outperforms other approaches when there are fewer rather than more channels, and it reduces the handoff call blocking rate more efficiently when the handoff traffic is heavily loaded. Moreover, the model can be adapted to any kind of reservation service.     

Effects of the BS power and soft handoff on the outage and capacity in the forward link of an SIR-based power-controlled CDMA system

In the forward link of a signal-to-interference ratio (SIR)-based fast power-controlled CDMA system, the fraction of base station (BS) power allocated to a mobile station (MS) is considered as a key factor affecting the system performance. By using our proposed macrodiversity non-orthogonality factor, we establish a unified analytical model to characterize the distribution of the fraction of BS power allocated to an MS in either the non-soft handoff mode or the soft handoff mode. By using that distribution and limiting the maximum fraction of BS power available to an MS, a closed-form expression of the capacity at a certain outage probability is obtained. The effects of system parameters, such as the available Rake fingers, the soft handoff threshold, the unbalance of the BS power, and the power control error, on the capacity are investigated from the viewpoint of the limitation on the fraction of BS power allocated to an MS. Simulation results show that soft handoff does not always improve capacity and the capacity gain may result depending on the choice of the system parameters.     

Sensitivity analysis of handoff algorithms on CDMA forward link

We analyze the performance of different handoff algorithms on the forward link or downlink of a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) cellular system. Unlike the reverse link, soft handoff on the forward link requires additional resources such as CDMA codes and transmit power and also causes additional interference. If handoff requests can be processed and completed instantaneously, transmission from the base station with the best link to the user would achieve a significant fraction of the macrodiversity gain without utilizing additional resources. However, in practical systems, there is a nonzero handoff completion delay and soft handoff provides the required robustness to delays, although it comes at the expense of additional network resources. Thus, there is a tradeoff between the extent of soft handoff required and the handoff execution delay. We compare the performance of hard and soft handoff schemes and study their sensitivity to the delay in the execution of the handoff. Outage probability and the total average power required are used as performance metrics. We present an analytical framework to study this tradeoff and also discuss simulation results with field data. The results provide insights on the conditions under which soft handoff can be eliminated and on the effect of relevant handoff thresholds on the performance.     

Behavior and performance of power controlled IS-95 reverse-linkunder soft handoff

The power controlled IS-95 reverse-link is studied. It is observed that received signals from multiple links under soft handoff and power control are not independent but anticorrelated. The cause of the anticorrelation is investigated through analysis and simulation. It is shown that due to this anticorrelation, the required signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) to achieve a given frame error rate can be ~0.7 dB less than previously estimated based on the independence assumption. Such an observation also leads to a more accurate reverse-link capacity estimate. Finally, it is pointed out that by using a postselection power control configuration an additional capacity increase of up to 11% is obtained     

Improving idle handoff in CDMA mobile systems

In this letter, we have developed an efficient idle handoff technique, starting from field-test results obtained with the method used in present CDMA mobile phones, where the handoff is performed when a new pilot rises over the current one by a predefined constant. Unlike the conventional method, the proposed method decides the handoff based on a variable threshold, the value of which is automatically determined depending on the pilot strength received from the home base. It is shown that the proposed method reduces unnecessary idle handoffs and keeps the mobile tracking the pilot received with sufficient strength