A hybrid workload model for wireless metropolitan area networks

Wireless local and metropolitan area networks are en route to complement 2nd and 3rd generation cellular networks to provide for broadband wireless access for mobile users. The characterization and generation of realistic workload is important to allow for accurate network planning and traffic engineering. In this paper, we present the instantiation of a novel workload model, which is a hybrid of an empirical mobility model and a synthetic traffic model. We focus on the effects which are induced by user mobility. The model clearly separates the influence of mobility and traffic to allow for greater flexibility. Thus, we are able to integrate different traffic characteristics on top of our mobility model elegantly. We present results for the example of a real city and compare our model to existing synthetic models. Our findings are, that our model is able to cover the macroscopic effects of real world behavior more precise than currently available workload models.