A Fault-Tolerant Channel-Allocation Algorithm for Cellular Networks With Mobile Base Stations

Several channel-allocation algorithms have been proposed in the literature for traditional cellular networks with static base stations (BSs), while not much attention has been given to channel-allocation problems for cellular networks where BSs are mobile. In cellular networks with mobile BSs (MBSs), the network topology is dynamic due to the mobility of the BSs. This makes the channel-allocation problem in such networks more challenging. Moreover, the MBSs may fail and degrade the performance of the cellular network. Therefore, it is desirable that the channel-allocation algorithm be fault tolerant. Thus, even in the presence of failure of the MBSs, the channel-allocation algorithm should work reasonably well. It is also desirable to design a channel-allocation approach that guarantees that the request from a mobile host (MH) is responded to in a timely manner. In this paper, a distributed dynamic channel-allocation algorithm that addresses these problems in cellular networks with MBSs is proposed. The proposed algorithm is fault tolerant and guarantees that the time to respond to an MH's request for supporting a call is upperbounded. The performance evaluation of the proposed algorithm shows that the proposed algorithm performs well, even in the presence of failure of the MBSs.