Throughput performance of a CDMA linked-cluster packet radio network

A model for a code division multiple access (CDMA) packet radio network in which users are organized, by geography or some other criteria, into multiple "clusters" or "cells" is presented. Each cell contains a base station through which all user communications occur. The possibility of employing multiple transceivers, to service the users, is considered. Inter-cell connectivity is provided by a "backbone" network of the base stations. In this network, downlink (base station-to-user) transmissions suffer from "head-of-line" blocking. Taking this into account, the maximum system throughput under heavy traffic is found. A simple approximation for the system throughput is developed and shown to yield accurate results. The results are then used to assess the effect on system throughput of (1) the number of base station transceivers and (2) the quality (i.e., multi-access capability) of the underlying CDMA scheme.