Efficient approximation of . . . IN UMTS RADIO NETWORKS

Performance evaluation of UMTS radio networks is involved due to the specifics of W-CDMA technology. A common approach is Monte-Carlo simulation, which is computationally expensive. For purposes such as network planning and optimization, it is vital to obtain estimates efficiently. While an entirely analytical and very efficient method using expected coupling systems is known for cell powers, no equivalent for cell’s blocking rates is at hand. This work contributes a highly efficient scheme for estimating blocking rates. We introduce a simple knapsack model for the cell’s capacity, that relies on using fixed estimates for inter-cell interference. The event of blocking and the blocking rate can then be characterized and estimated. We demonstrate on the basis of realistic planning data that the method works efficiently and yields estimates that are sufficiently accurate for applications such as network optimization