Handoff effect on packet reservation multiple access (PRMA) in microcellular system

Packet reservation multiple access (PRMA) has been proposed for third-generation wireless information networks by D.J. Goodman and S.X. Wei (see ibid., vol.40, p.170-6, 1991). The mobile-initiated handoff has been proposed to disperse the base station (BS) burden, which is increased by the small microcell radius. However, increased contentions, due to handoff, affect the overall performance of PRMA, even though these frequent handoffs do not burden the BS. We analyze the handoff effect on PRMA performance under a microcellular system, both voice-only and combined voice-and-data systems. A steady state voice-terminal model with handoff is proposed. System-equilibrium equations are derived using the proposed model. The system performance is evaluated, using a Markov analysis method, in terms of packet-dropping probability, data-packet delay, and throughput. The change of performance under handoff show the impact of handoff on PRMA.