Outage probability in digital cellular radio networks

The block outage probability that the voice segment is lost in digital cellular radio networks using TDMA because of a temporary fade during part of its reception is studied. The combined effects of multipath fading and shadowing of the wanted and interfering signals are considered. To this end, the model for RF outage probabilities, as appropriate for analog transmission, is extended to include the influence of the nonfade duration. The results are compared with the outage probability for blocks of zero duration, i.e., ignoring the effects of the time constants of the fading on outage probability. Results are verified by computer simulation using Ptolemy. The results suggest that previously reported outage probabilities for analog transmission are inaccurate for TDMA networks. The new model is believed relevant to the spectrum-efficient design and planning of reliable digital cellular TDMA telephone networks