Capacity of Hierarchical WiFi/WiMAX Networks

In this paper, we assess the capacity of hierarchical WiFi/WiMAX networks, where end users are connected to the Internet via WiFi access points while WiMAX plays the part of backhaul. At the packet level, we model both WiFi and WiMAX throughputs, taking into account inter-cell interference and radio conditions heterogeneity over the network. At the flow level, we provide a Markovian analysis that calculates the performance metrics like the blocking rate and the user-perceived throughput. The interaction between the different cells in the network, at the access and backhaul layers, is solved by a fixed point approach. Our numerical results illustrate the capacity of the network and the impact of replacing the wired backhaul by a WiMAX one.