A Heterogeneous Multihop Wireless Access Network for Multipoint Streaming: A detailed Performance Analysis

The current 3G-Cellular radio access network cannot support many concurrent high data rate unicast or multicast flows due to limited radio resources. We have proposed a heterogeneous wireless network architecture intended for point-to-multipoint services, to improve the availability of such services to mobile users. The architecture consists of a 3G-Cellular network, supported by a number of local ad hoc networks that are established on demand. In this framework the 3G multipoint-channel range is reduced while the unicast and signalling connections are maintained. Local ad hoc networks are used to forward the multicast data onto users located outside the shortened 3G multicast-channel range. In this paper we present a performance analysis of multicast streaming on the heterogeneous network architecture. The simulation results are complemented with a sensitivity analysis identifying the impact that parameters like node mobility and traffic patterns will have. The results verify that the architecture and the routing protocol are able to provide multicast services with acceptable quality to the multicast subscribers, while conserving 3G-Cellular radio resources.