Enhancing the performance of a second generation cellular network in a realistic GSM environment

We refer to the possible performance improvement consequent to the introduction of dynamic carrier allocation (DCA) strategies in the pan-European Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) cellular network. The impact of the introduction in a real network of two of the more promising DCA strategies is assessed, also in terms of the entailed signalling exchanges between base stations. A performance evaluation of a realistic cellular network exploiting the above-mentioned DCA strategies is carried out, taking into account all the main GSM transmission and network aspects. The simulations have been performed by considering a realistic cell layout corresponding to the urban area of Rome, its realistic propagation environment, and an user mobility model based on the building percentages in such area. The results of the performance evaluation show that, by carefully choosing the values of the parameters characterizing each of the considered DCA strategies, a conspicuous increase in the number of users supported by the cellular network can be achieved.