Performance evaluation of channel allocation algorithms under uniform and non-uniform traffic conditions

A new algorithm for channel assignment in cellular radio communications is proposed. The algorithm uses flexible fixed channel assignment that enables heavily loaded cells having all their nominal channels busy to borrow channels from other lightly loaded cells within the cluster provided they meet the reuse constraints. The main objective of the priority-based channel borrowing algorithm is to maximize the number of free nominal channels in each of the cells so as to minimize the future blocking probability of new and handoff calls. To minimize the traffic carried on borrowed channels we use the borrowed channels for only the time it is required and return it to the cell it was borrowed from as soon as possible. We also use various call switching strategies at call departure to minimize the traffic carried on borrowed channels. The main idea is to first return a channel borrowed from a cell group having the least number of free nominal channels at the instance of call departure. Simulation studies show that the proposed priority-based channel borrowing algorithm outperforms the existing channel allocation algorithms