Traffic models for wireless communication networks

In this paper, we introduce a deterministic fluid model and two stochastic traffic models for wireless networks. The setting is a highway with multiple entrances and exits. Vehicles are classified as calling or non-calling, depending on whether they have calls in progress. The deterministic model ignores the behavior of individual vehicles and treats them as a continuous fluid, whereas the stochastic traffic models consider the random behavior of each vehicle. However, all three models use the same two coupled partial (or ordinary) differential equations to describe the system evolution. The call density and call handoff rate (or their expected values in the stochastic models) are readily computable by solving these equations. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate how the models can be used to investigate various aspects of time and space dynamics in wireless networks. These examples also show that the models can serve as useful tools for system engineering and planning.