Multiple link packet access for wireless cellular networks

The potential to provide multiple logical packet links to distant base stations exists in a reasonable part of the coverage area either by overlapping or hierarchical cell structure. This potential can be tapped in a packet mode to increase system throughput, improve performance and simplify the mobility and handoff procedures. Our discussion includes four key issues: (i) multiple link packet protocol operation, (ii) mobility management, (iii) packet routing and transfer, and (iv) performance. We present a preliminary analysis of the system performance using a Markov modulated Poisson process for the overflow and quantify the performance improvement through a numerical example.