Modelling load balancing and Carrier Aggregation in mobile networks

Abstract

In this paper, we propose analytical models to derive the performance of dual carrier mobile HSDPA mobile networks. Specifically, we analyze the flow-level performance of two inter-carrier load balancing schemes and the gain engendered by Carrier Aggregation (CA). CA is one of the most important features of HSPA+ networks; it allows devices to be served simultaneously by several carriers. We propose Volume Balancing (VB) and Join the Fastest Queue (JFQ), a load-balancing mechanism that allows the traffic of non-CA users to be distributed over the aggregated carriers. We then evaluate the performance of both CA and non-CA users by means of analytical modeling. We show that the proposed schemes achieve efficient load balancing. We also investigate the impact of mixing traffic of CA and non-CA users in the same cell and show that performance is practically insensitive to the traffic mix.