Performance analysis of handoff for virtual cellular network with centralized/distributed resource control

Abstract

A Virtual Cellular Network (VCN) is a wireless cellular network wherein a single Mobile Station (MS) can communicate simultaneously with more than one Base Station (BS). In this paper, we analyze handoff for two kinds of VCN: a 'Distributed Resource-control VCN' (DR-VCN) and a 'Centralized Resource-control VCN' (CR-VCN). A VCN can take advantage of the fact that the same data is received by multiple base stations. The DR-VCN is a system in which every BS controls its own channels, while the CR-VCN is a system wherein a central station controls all system channels. Results from analysis and simulation show that both the new call drop rate and handoff refusal rate of the CR-VCN are much lower than those of the DR-VCN.