A Markov Model for Performance Evaluation of CRRM Algorithms in a Co-Located GERAN/UTRAN/WLAN Scenario

Next generation wireless networks will be heterogeneous. Multiple Radio Access Technologies (RATs) will be colocated in the same area. A challenge arising is the efficient radio resource management among overlapped RATs. The concept of Common Radio Resource Management (CRRM) has been proposed in the literature. One of the key issues of CRRM is the RAT selection algorithm. In order to support the conceptual development of Radio Access Technology (RAT) selection algorithms in heterogeneous networks, the theory of Markov model is used. This paper proposes a three-dimensional Markov model for an integrated GERAN/UTRAN/WLAN network based on the extension of existing two co-located RATs Markov models. The performance of two basic RAT selection algorithms: load balancing (LB) based and service based algorithms are evaluated in terms of call blocking probability. The numerical results obtained from our Markov model are validated by simulation results.