Performance analysis of a hierarchical cellular mobile communication system

This paper analyzes the performance of a mobile communication system consisting of microcells, regular cells and macrocells. These cells of different sizes are structured in a hierarchical manner. Microcells are primarily used to serve handsets in slow motion. Handoff calls in microcells can overflow into regular cells or macrocells. Likewise, regular cells are used mainly to support handsets in moving vehicles. Handoff calls in regular cells can overflow into macrocells. Calls, primarily long distance or international, can also be launched directly to the satellite. Performance measures such as call blocking rate, call drop rate, and channel utilization are successfully derived. Numerical examples are also provided to demonstrate several interesting phenomena