Area coverage and capacity enhancement by multihop connection of CDMA cellular network

In future broadband communication systems, a multi-hop scheme, in which stations between a mobile terminal and a base station relay signal transmissions, seems a promising approach for wide-area coverage and system capacity enhancement. We apply the multi-hop connection scheme to a code division multiple access (CDMA) cellular system and compare its performance to that of a conventional single-hop cellular system. In computer simulations, we assume a packet-based multi-cell environment considering intercell and intracell interference and that every mobile station is equipped with a function for relaying transmission signals. Simulations are performed for the cases where the area coverage cannot be obtained by using only a single-hop connection, and where full area coverage is obtained by a single-hop connection. In the former case, almost 90% of area coverage is obtained when the area coverage by a single hop is approximately 50%. In the latter case, packet arrival ratio is increased by using a multi-hop connection. The degree of improvement, however, is very slight due to interference between signals from base stations and relay stations.