Evaluation of cell coverage and throughput in the multihop CDMA cellular network

A multihop connection scheme, where one or more mobile terminals relay transmission signals using the same access scheme between an end user terminal and its destination base station, is a promising approach to overcome reduction in cell size caused by high bit-rate data transmission. In a general radio communication system, coverage area and system throughput are closely interrelated. In this paper, the performance of a multihop cellular network employing a CDMA access scheme, which is a promising candidate for beyond the third generation, is studied in terms of coverage area and system throughput by conducting a link level simulation. The results show that a multihop connection expands a coverage area, especially in a light traffic case, and also has an advantage in system throughput.