Back to the list of graduate students Load Sharing in an Integrated Satellite-Terrestrial Cellular Network
by
Simon Arcand
M. Eng, 1995
Abstract
Global Personal Communication Services will incorporate an integrated satellite-terrestrial cellular telecommunications network. The implementation of this network may be done by adding a satellite "extension" to any of the well-developed terrestrial cellular systems which have been in use for many years. The network will provide service to a user population equipped with single mode terminals (SMTs) that have access to the terrestrial cellular system only and dual mode terminals (DMTs) that have access to both components of the network. Two complications arise from this. First, as recommended by many authors, DMTs will use the satellite system as a secondary server for the traffic that cannot be serviced by the terrestrial system. DMTs risk monopolizing the terrestrial system system to the detriment of SMTs that cannot choose the system they are connected to. Secondly, any algorithm that reduces this problem must do so over a wide range of SMT-DMT proportion since operating companies will have very little control over that factor.
This thesis examines several algorithms used by DMTs in choosing from which system they are to request service. For each algorithm, the quality of service is computed by employing a hybrid method where the output of a mathematical analysis is used as the input to a Monte Carlo simulation.
This thesis found that an algorithm that uses the satellite as a last resort only offers a good performance if all terminals have dual mode capability. Otherwise its performance is poor.
The thesis also found an algorithm that outperforms all others for any DMT proportion.