Performance analysis of multihop cellular network with fixed channel assignment

Multihop cellular network (MCN) has been proposed to incorporate the flexibility of ad hoc networks into traditional single-hop cellular networks (SCNs). The performance analysis of MCN through analytical models is not trivial because the classic Erlang B formula no longer applies to MCN where multihop transmission is allowed. In this paper, we first propose a clustered MCN (cMCN) architecture with the use of dedicated information ports (DIPs), which are deployed wireless ports functioning as central controllers for multihop users. The proposed cMCN can be considered as a complement of the existing cellular network. Then, we study the feasibility of modeling time division multiple access (TDMA)-based cMCN with fixed channel assignment (FCA) scheme for uplink transmission. An exact multi-dimensional Markov chain model to analyze the performance of cMCN with FCA is developed. Furthermore, an approximated model which results in reduced complexity is also presented. The analytical results from both models are matched with the simulation results closely. The results show that cMCN with the proposed FCA scheme can reduce the call blocking probability significantly as compared to SCNs with either the conventional FCA or a dynamic channel assignment (DCA) scheme.