Received June 25, 2021, accepted July 23, 2021, date of publication July 28, 2021, date of current

version August 5, 2021.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3100561

Mathematical Model of Operation of a Cell of

a Mobile Communication Network With
Adaptive Modulation Schemes and
Handover of Mobile Users
CHESOONG KIM 1 , (Member, IEEE), ALEXANDER DUDIN 2,3 ,

SERGEI DUDIN 3 , AND OLGA DUDINA 3

1 Department of Industrial Engineering, Sangji University, Wonju 26339, Republic of Korea
2 Department of Applied Probability and Informatics, RUDN University, 117198 Moscow, Russia
3 Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Belarusian State University, 220030 Minsk, Belarus

Corresponding author: Chesoong Kim (dowoo@sangji.ac.kr)

This work was supported in part by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF)
funded by the Ministry of Education under Grant NRF-2020R1A2C1006999, and in part by Sangji University Grant 2019. The work of
Alexander Dudin was supported by the Russian People’s Friendship University (RUDN) Strategic Academic Leadership Program.

ABSTRACT A model of a cell of a communication network, divided into zones, with the dependence of the
users’ service time on the zone, in which they are located, is considered. The arrival flow of users is defined
by a marked Markovian process. The number of users that can receive service in a cell simultaneously is
finite. If the number of users reached the limit, then new users are lost, except the users that come to the cell
already during the service (handover users). For the short-term storage of such users, there is a buffer of a
finite capacity. Cell operation is modeled by a multi-server queueing system. The behavior of this system is
described by a multi-dimensional Markov chain. The algorithms for calculating the stationary distribution
of this chain and the main characteristics of the quality of service have been developed.

INDEX TERMS Cell of the mobile network, adaptive modulation, queuing system, mobile users.

I. INTRODUCTION obstacles to signal propagation, the level of existing noise,

Queuing systems and networks well describe the processes
of resource allocation in telecommunication networks and
continue to be a topical object of research. Relatively
recently, a study on the characteristics of the operation
of cells in mobile communication networks, in which
the service rate of a user (due to the use of various
modulation schemes) depends on the strength of the signal
received from the base station, has begun. For example,
5G networks support four schemes: Quadrature Phase-Key
Shifting (QPSK), 16 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
(16-QAM), 64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (64-QAM)
and 256 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (256-QAM). It is
assumed that the cell is divided by signal strength into non-
overlapping zones. This separation is determined by the
distance to the base station, the presence of natural or artificial
The associate editor coordinating the review of this manuscript and
approving it for publication was Adnan Shahid.
etc. When users move from one zone to another during
service, the rate of their service changes. The number of users
that can receive service in the cell simultaneously is finite.
If at the moment of generating a new user the number of
users in the cell has already reached the limit, then this user
is lost. It is necessary to investigate the stationary behavior
of the system to clarify the form of the dependence of the
main characteristics of the quality of service of users on the
parameters of the system. In particular, the dependence on
the number of channels available for service of users is of
interest.
A. RELATED WORK
The problem of construction and analysis of mathematical
models of the operation of the cells of mobile communication
network is intensively addressed in the existing literature. The
specifics of our model consists of: (i) account of existing
in real networks possibility of changing the service rate of

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 C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
the users depending on the current distance from the base
station, and (ii) account of handover phenomenon. Similar to
our models of cell operation were considered, for example,
in [1]–[5]. Detailed survey of the relevant results is given
in the paper [5]. In the paper [6], the known models were
substantially generalized aiming to more adequately describe
the arrival flow of users and take into account the possibility
of early termination of service. [6] assumes that the flow
generated by users within a cell is specified by a marked
Markovian arrival process (MMAP), in which the type of user
is determined by the number of the zone where the user is
generated. The MMAP is a fairly general model of the input
flow comparing to the popular in the literature superposition
of stationary Poisson processes. The use of the MMAP allows
us to take into account the variance and the correlation of
the lengths of intervals between the arrival moments of users.
This allows, as shown in [6], to avoid an overly optimistic
estimation of the quality of service of users and a significant
underestimation of the required resource. Advantages of the
model analysed in [6] over the model from [5] are as follows:
(a) Impatience of users is taken into account. The users
may leave the cell before service completion either due to
handover to another cell or due to dissatisfaction with the
quality of the provided service. Account of this feature is very
important because it is needed for an adequate description
of users’ behavior in real-world networks. Additionally,
as mentioned in [6], it is important from the perspective of
applying the model to analyze 5G networks where cells have
small sizes and handover often occurs;
(b) A possibility of transitions from any zone not only to
the geographical neighboring zones. Due to multipath fading,
radio interference, and the shadowing effect, the neighboring
zones in the terms of the strength of the signal may be
different from neighboring in the geographical sense, see [4].
Any assumption about the form of a zone is not imposed while
frequently it is assumed that zones form a regular or irregular
annulus and the intensity of the users’ activation in various
zones is directly proportional to the square of the zone;
(c) More flexible user admission strategy, for details
see [6];
(d) analysis of the model is presented in [6] for an arbitrary
number R of zones, while only the particular cases R = 2 and
R = 3 are analysed in [5].
In this paper, we significantly generalize the model studied
in [6] to take into account the following inherent feature
of real cellular networks. In addition to the users generated
in a specific cell, the cell receives users arriving from other
cells that are already in the service process (handover users).
For recent references where the importance of the account of
existence of handover users is stressed see, e.g. [9]–[13].
B. MAIN CONTRIBUTION OF THE PAPER
The main contribution of this paper is the construction and
analytical analysis of the new mathematical model of mobile
users service in a cell of a network. The model accounts for
the possibility of varying modulation and coding schemes
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and the service of handover users. The currently employed
modulation and coding scheme depends on the strength of
the signal received by a user from the base station. In this
model, we assume that the total number of users that can
receive service in the cell simultaneously is restricted by the
predefined finite number N . The new users located in the cell
are not allowed to establish a connection when the number
of users receiving service is equal to N . The handover users
arriving at the cell in such a situation have the opportunity to
wait for service for a while in the specially designed finite
buffer if the buffer is not full. Otherwise, the service of a
handover user is terminated and the user is lost. This scenario
is realistic due to the existence of an overlapping area between
cells. Therefore, the users arriving at a new cell have some
time slot during which they still keep the connection to the
base station of the cell from which they are departing. If this
slot expires before the user starts service in the new cell,
the stay of the user in the network is terminated. The user
leaves the buffer and is lost. Under the fixed value of the
parameters defining the processes of service and movement
of users, the quality of users’ service significantly depends on
the control of the system operation. This control is realized
via the choice of the number of users that can obtain service
simultaneously and the buffer capacity. The results obtained
in this paper allow making the right choice. In contrast to
the overwhelming majority of the existing papers, in which
usually the arrival processes are assumed to be stationary
Poisson, in our model both arrival processes of ordinary
and handover users are quite general MMAP and Markov
arrival processes (MAP). This allows taking into account
the bursty behavior of arrival processes in modern wireless
communication networks.
C. BYPRODUCT THEORETICAL CONTRIBUTION
OF THE PAPER
The behavior of the considered queueing system is described
by a multi-dimensional Markov chain. To analyze this
Markov chain, it is necessary to write down its generator.
To obtain the explicit form of the blocks of the generator,
we propose a novel algorithm which is an important
byproduct of our analysis. This algorithm is more efficient
than the known in the existing literature, see, e.g., [7], [8]. It
can find wide applications for the analysis of many multi-
server reliable and non-reliable queues with moving users
or phase-type distribution of the service time. In particular,
this algorithm is very useful when optimization problems
related to the optimal choice of the number of servers have
to be solved and sequential computation of the values of
performance measures of the system under a various number
of servers is required.
D. PARAMETERS FITTING
As it is already noted above, our paper has the theoret-
ical character, the main contribution of this paper is the
construction and exact analysis of the new mathematical
model of operation of a cell of a network. It is clear that
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C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
it would be perfect to supplement this analysis utilizing the
application of the obtained results to some concrete cell
of a mobile network. However, unfortunately, we do not
have close relations with any mobile operator and do not
have real data. The presented in the corresponding section
below numerical results are just illustrative and we use the
parameters of the cell that are chosen from common sense
reasonings.
Nevertheless, in this subsection we briefly discuss the
important problem of fitting the input data required for the
use of the considered model.
1) GLOBAL INFORMATION
By the global information, we mean the number R of various
modulation and coding schemes supported by the operator in
the considered cell (as a rule, all or some of the four schemes
for 5G network listed above in Introduction) and the exact
borders of zones where these modulation and coding schemes
should be applied. We assume that the potential consumer
of the presented mathematical results and corresponding
software is the operator of the considered cell. Therefore, this
information is exhaustively known to him. The possibilities
of extracting the rest of information, which is required for
performance evaluation of the cell and optimal decision
making based on the model analysed in this paper, are briefly
listed below.
2) PATTERN OF THE ARRIVAL PROCESS
Information about the moments of starting sessions in the
cell by the new and handover users (so-called timestamps)
is completely known for a provider. The problem of
constructing the models of the real-world arrival flows as the
MMAP and MAP arrival processes, supposed in this paper,
is far from being trivial. Definitely, it is drastically more
complicated than the problem of fitting the real flow by the
stationary Poisson process. However, the stationary Poisson
process assumes the constant arrival rate of the users while the
flows in the modern communication networks exhibit bursty
behavior. An approximation of them by the stationary Poisson
process may lead to extremely poor quality of prediction of
the values of the performance measures of the corresponding
queueing models and real systems. Models with the stationary
Poisson process very often give too optimistic forecasts. This
is why the problem of constructing the MMAP and MAP
models of a real flow based on the available timestamps has
got a lot of attention in the literature, see e.g., [14]–[18] and
the references therein.
If the analyzed cell is still under design, the information
about the arrival process can be obtained from the expert’s
predictions and experience of exploitation of other similar
cells.
3) VOLUME OF THE DATA TRANSMITTED TO THE USER
LOCATED AT EACH ZONE DURING A SESSION AND THE
FRACTION OF SERVICE (OVERHEAD) TRAFFIC
This information is completely stored by the provider,
at least for solving billing issues, simultaneously with the
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information about timestamps of sessions beginning. The
average volume and the average fraction of the overhead
traffic are then calculated trivially. The share of the overhead
information in the total flow can be estimated based on the
results from [19].
4) INFORMATION ABOUT THE MOBILITY OF THE USERS
The problem of characterization of the mobility of users in
wireless networks is well known in the existing literature,
see, e.g., [20]–[28]. The problem of describing the users’
mobility was also discussed, e.g., in [29] and [30]. Besides,
this problem can be quite routinely solved using the statistical
methods based on the available for the operator information
about the duration of a user stay in each zone and the sample
probabilities (frequencies) of transitions between the zones
inside the cell, departures of the user from the cell due to
the bad quality of the connection or due to the handover to
another cell.
5) DEGREE OF ADEQUACY OF THE MODEL TO THE REAL
OBJECT AND DIFFICULTIES OF PARAMETERS FITTING
The success of the application of any mathematical model
of a real object to the investigation of this object depends
mainly on the two closely related factors. These factors are
(i) the degree of the adequacy of the model to the real
object and (ii) the correctness of fitting the parameters of
the model to the real object. The more adequate model takes
into account more inherent features of the real object and,
generally speaking, is more difficult for the study. Also, if the
model is more adequate, then more parameters of this existing
or creating object have to be estimated or forecasted, based
on the available data. Therefore, in the construction of the
model, it is necessary to account for both the feasibility of its
analytical and numerical study and the possibility to match
the parameters of the model to the real object. Considered in
this paper model seems to be the reasonable trade-off between
the adequacy and feasibility of estimation of input data.
E. STRUCTURE OF THE PAPER
In section 2, the process of the operation of the cell under
study is described in terms of a multi-server queueing system
with two user flows. One of them, defined by the MMAP,
describes the generation of the new users in different zones
of the cell. Another, MAP, defines the process of users’
arrival from other cells. A brief description of such flows
is also given in Section 2. In Section 3, the behavior of
the system is described by a multi-dimensional continuous-
time Markov chain. The chain is constructed in such a way
that the sizes of the blocks of the generator are as small as
possible. This allows the implementation of the developed
algorithms for calculating the stationary distribution of the
states of this chain on a computer not only for small
values of the number of servers. Formulas for calculating
the main characteristics of the quality of users’ service
through the obtained probability distribution are presented in
Section 4. Some numerical results are presented in Section 5.
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 C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
These results illustrate the dependencies of the performance
characteristics on the number of users that can obtain service
simultaneously and the capacity of the buffer for handover
users. Information about these dependencies can be useful
to a service provider from the point of view of managerial
goals and the optimal choice of the number of users that
can obtain service simultaneously and the buffer capacity.
Section 6 concludes the paper.
II. MATHEMATICAL MODEL
We consider a cell consisting of R (1 < R < ∞) non-
intersecting zones. The signal strength and, hence, the service
rate of any user depends on the zone in the cell in which the
user is located. The zones are enumerated in the order of the
decrease of the strength of the signal, i.e. the signal is the
strongest in zone 1 and the weakest in zone R.
As a model of the cell operation, we consider a queuing
system consisting of N identical servers and a finite buffer of
capacity K . Arriving users are divided into two types: users
that are generated within this cell (ordinary or new users),
and users that enter this cell from other cells during service
(handover users). We divide all users into R types. We assume
that a user served or arriving in the r-th zone is the user of the
r-th type, r = 1, R. Here, notation r = 1, R means that the
parameter r takes values from the set {1, 2, . . . , R}.
The process of activating new users in the cell is described
by a MMAP, see [31], defined as follows. Let νt , t ≥ 0, be
an irreducible continuous-time Markov chain with the finite
state space {1, 2, . . . , W }. The transition intensities of this
Markov chain are determined by the generator D. The matrix
D is decomposed into square matrices Dr , r = 0, R, of size
R
Dr . Elements of the non-negative matrix Dr
P
W as D =
r=0
r = 1, R, determine the transition intensities of the Markov
chain νt , which are accompanied by the activation of a new
user in the r-th zone. The non-diagonal elements in the matrix
D0 determine the transition intensities of the Markov chain νt ,
which are not accompanied by the activation of new users.
Moduli of the negative diagonal elements of the matrix D0
determine the parameters of the exponential distribution of
the sojourn time of the Markov chain νt in the corresponding
states.
The average intensity (fundamental rate) λr , r = 1, R, of
users activation in the r-th zone is given by the formula
λr = θDr e,
where θ is the row vector of the stationary probabilities of the
Markov chain νt , defined as the unique solution to the system
θD = 0, θe = 1.
Here, 0 is a row vector of appropriate size consisting of
zeroes and e is a column vector of appropriate size consisting
of 10 s. The total intensity λ of users activation in a cell is
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defined as
R
X
λ= λr .
r=1
The squared coefficient of variation cvar of the inter-
vals between successive arrivals is given by cvar =
2λθ(−D0 )−1 e − 1.
The coefficient of correlation ccor of two succes-
sive intervals between arrivals is given by ccor =
(λθ(−D0 )−1 D(−D0 )−1 e − 1)/cvar .
The process of handover users’ arrival is described by
the MAP defined as follows. Let vt , t ≥ 0, be an
irreducible continuous-time Markov chain with finite state
space {1, 2, . . . , V }. The transition intensities of this Markov
chain are determined by the generator H . The H matrix is
defined as the sum of the square matrices Hl , l = 0, 1, of
size V . The elements of the nonnegative matrix H1 determine
the transition intensities of the Markov chain vt which are
accompanied by the arrival of a handover user. Non-diagonal
elements in the matrix H0 determine the transition intensities
of the Markov chain vt which are not accompanied by the
arrival of a handover user. Moduli of the negative diagonal
elements of the matrix H0 determine the parameters of the
exponential distribution of the sojourn time of the Markov
chain vt in the corresponding states.
The average intensity λh of handover users arrival is
calculated as
λh = ζ H1 e,
where ζ is the row vector of the stationary probabilities of the
Markov chain vt , defined as the unique solution to the system
ζ H = 0, ζ e = 1.
We suggest that the handover user that arrives when all the
servers are busy is sent to the buffer. If the buffer is full,
then the handover user is lost. Handover users are chosen
from the buffer to service as the servers become idle in the
order of their arrival. Handover users staying in the buffer are
impatient. This suggestion is true in real systems because,
if a handover user does not succeed to start service before
leaving the coverage area of the old cell, the connection is
dropped and the handover user is lost. We assume that the
patience time of an arbitrary handover user has an exponential
distribution with the parameter α, α > 0. After this time
expires, the handover user leaves the system forever.
If the handover user starts service, we assume that further
it is treated as the ordinary user of type R. This is because
handover users come from outside, as a rule, to the border
part of the cell coverage area (zone) farthest from the base
station.
Ordinary users cannot be buffered. If all servers are busy
at an arbitrary ordinary user arrival moment, the user leaves
the system without service (is lost). If some servers are idle,
the user occupies one of them and starts service.
Let us consider in detail the process of servicing a user
that establishes a connection in the r-th zone or moves to
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C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
this zone from another one during an established connection.
We assume that the sojourn time of a user in the r-th zone has
an exponential distribution with the intensity sr , r = 1, R.
This time is defined mainly by the volume of information that
the user receives or sends during the stay in this zone and the
service rate in this zone predefined by the used modulation
scheme (among the mentioned above). This time ends if the
user either:
a) successfully completes service (the probability of this
event will be denoted as qr,serv , and the corresponding
intensity as sr,serv = qr,serv sr );
b) goes to another zone (the probability of the transition to
zone l is denoted as qr,l , and the corresponding intensity as
sr,l = qr,l sr , r 6 = l);
c) stops service due to dissatisfaction with the quality of
communication or failure (the probability of termination of
service due to dissatisfaction with the quality of communica-
tion or failure will be denoted as qr,out , and the corresponding
intensity as sr,out = qr,out sr );
d) terminates the service in the zone due to departing
to another cell (the probability of departing from the cell
is denoted as qr,hand , and the corresponding intensity as
sr,hand = qr,hand sr ).
It is clear that the following equality holds true
R
X
sr = sr,serv + sr,l + sr,out + sr,hand
l=1,l6=r
for any value of r, r = 1, R.
Since a user can move through the zones of the cell without
restrictions, the total time spent by the user in the cell consists,
generally speaking, of several times having an exponential
distribution with parameters depending on the zones visited
by the user.
To characterize the distribution of this total time, let us
consider a continuous-time Markov chain ηt , t ≥ 0, having
R transient states 1, 2, . . . , R and three absorbing states R +
1, R + 2 and R + 3. We will define the total service time of an
arbitrary user in a cell as the time during which the Markov
chain ηt , t ≥ 0, reaches one of the absorbing states.
The initial state of the chain ηt is selected at the time of
the beginning a user service and is defined by the type of this
user. At the moment when a type r user begins service in the
cell, the chain ηt starts transitions from the state r, r = 1, R.
In other words, the initial state of the chain ηt for such a user
is chosen with the probabilities defined by the components of
the vector β (r) = (0, . . . , 0, 1, 0, . . . , 0), r = 1, R.
| {z } | {z }
r−1 R−r
We assume that, during a user service, the residence of
the underlying service process ηt in the state is r means
provisioning of service to this user in the r-th zone, r = 1, R.
The moments when the user changes the zone correspond
to the moments of transitions of the chain ηt to another
transient state. The transition intensities of the process
ηt between the transient states are determined by the
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non-diagonal elements of the sub-generator
s1,3 . . . s1,R
 
−s1 s1,2
 s2,1 −s2 s2,3 . . . s2,R 
S= . .. .. ..  .
..
 
 .. . . . . 
sR,1 sR,2 sR,3 ... −sR
The diagonal elements of the sub-generator S specify, up to
the sign, the intensity of the exit from the corresponding state
of the chain ηt .
We assume that the transitions of the Markov chain ηt to
the absorbing states R + 1, R + 2, and R + 3 correspond to
the successful completion of the service, departure of the user
from the cell due to the service interruption, and departure of
the user from the cell due to handover, correspondingly.
The intensities of the process ηt transition into the
absorbing state R + 1 are determined by the components of
the vector Sserv = (s1,serv , s2,serv , . . . , sR,serv ).
The intensities of the process ηt transition into the
absorbing state R + 2 are determined by the components of
the vector Sout = (s1,out , s2,out , . . . , sR,out ).
The intensities of the process ηt transition into the
absorbing state R + 3 are determined by the components of
the vector Shand = (s1,hand , s2,hand , . . . , sR,hand ).
The processes of users’ arrival and service are completely
defined and we can study the described queueing system.
III. THE PROCESS OF SYSTEM STATES
The behavior of the system under study can be described by
the continuous-time Markov chain
(1) (R)
ζt = {nt , νt , vt , ηt , . . . , ηt }, t ≥ 0,
where, during the epoch t,
nt is the number of users in the system, nt = 0, N + K ;
νt is the state of the underlying process of the MMAP
defining the arrival process of the ordinary users, νt = 1, W ;
vt is the state of the underlying process of the MAP defining
the arrival process of the handover users, vt = 1, V ;
(r)
ηt is the number of servers providing the service which
are at the r-th phase (the number of users currently serviced in
R
(r)
the r-th zone), ηt = 0, min{nt , N },
(r)
ηt = min{nt , N },
P
r=1
r = 1, R.
(r)
Remark 1: Consideration of the processes ηt , r = 1, R,
instead of the separate monitoring the current zone of each
user allows to significantly reduce the size of the state space
of the Markov chain ζt . The reduction is especially essential if
the number of zones R is relatively small while the number N
of users, which can obtain service in the cell simultaneously,
is large. This size is very important from the point of view
of the feasibility and the speed of the computation of the
stationary distribution of the chain ζt on the computer. The
idea of using such processes to describe the dynamics of
a Markov chain defining the operation of a multi-server
queueing system with a phase distribution of service times
was proposed in the paper [7].
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 C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network

The Markov chain ζt , t ≥ 0, is regular irreducible and depend not only on the current number n of users receiving
has a finite state space. Therefore, the stationary (invariant) service in the system but also on the number N of the maximal
probabilities of the states of the chain number of users that can receive service simultaneously. This
disadvantage of the algorithms from [7] is not essential if one
π(n, ν, v, η(1) , . . . , η(R) ) needs to make computations only for one fixed value of N and
(1) (R)
= lim P{nt = n, νt = ν, vt = v, ηt = η(1) , . . . , ηt = η(R) } n = 1, N . But it becomes quite essential, e.g., if the problem
t→∞
of the optimal, for a certain cost criterion, choice of the
exist for any values of the parameters of the queuing system value of N should be solved. To solve such an optimization
under consideration. problem, one has to have an opportunity to compare the
Let us form the row vectors π n , n = 0, N + K , of these values of the cost criterion for various values of N , say, N1 and
probabilities enumerated in the reverse lexicographic order N2 (N2 > N1 ). Using the analogs of our formulas given in [7],
(1) (R)
of the components ηt , . . . , ηt and the direct lexicographic one has to make computation of the respective matrices and,
order of the components νt and vt . then, of the stationary distribution of the system states first for
It is well known that the probability vectors π n , N = N1 and n = 1, N1 , and, then, for N = N2 and n = 1, N2 .
n = 0, N + K , satisfy the following system of linear Using our formulas presented below, one needs to compute
algebraic equations (Chapman-Kolmogorov equations or first the matrices Ln (S̃) and An (S) for n = 1, N1 , and, then,
equilibrium equations): to compute additionally these matrices for n = N1 + 1, N2 .
(π 0 , π 1 , . . . , π N +K )Q = 0, (π 0 , π 1 , . . . , π N +K )e = 1, If, during the optimization process, it is required to make
a computation of the stationary distribution of the system
(1)
states and the value of the cost criterion for many different
where Q is the infinitesimal generator of the Markov chain values of N , the advantage of our algorithm becomes very
ζt , t ≥ 0. significant.
To compute the vectors of the stationary probabilities of Note also that the analogs of the matrices Ln (S̃), introduced
the system states, we have to obtain the generator Q. in [7], take into account the transitions of the underlying
To this end, let us first consider the dynamics of the process to a single absorbing state. In the model we are con-
(1) (R)
R-dimensional random process ηt = {ηt , . . . , ηt }. sidering here, there are three absorbing states, the transitions
To describe the transition intensities of this process, to which correspond to the different reasons for ending the
conditional that there are n users receiving service in the service. Correspondingly, we need to compute three kinds of
system at the moment t, we need the following matrices: matrices Ln (S̃) for S̃ ∈ {Sserv , Sout , Shand }.
a) the matrix Ln (S̃), S̃ ∈ {Sserv , Sout , Shand }, defines the The proposed algorithm for calculation of the matrices
transition intensities of the process ηt at the moment An (S), n = 1, N , consists of the following steps:
when one of the service processes transits to the 1. Calculate the matrices τ (k) (S), k = 0, R − 1, by
corresponding absorbing state R + l, l = 1, 2, 3, removing the first k rows and columns from the
n = 1, N ; matrix S.
b) the matrix An (S) determines the transition intensities 2. Calculate the matrices Tj = τ (R−2−j) (S), j = 1, R − 2,
of the process ηt at the moment when one of the users j
and let tk,l be the (k, l)-th element of the matrix Tj , and
transits to another zone, n = 1, N ; rj be the number of rows of the matrix Tj .
c) the matrix Pn (β (r) ) defines the transition probabilities of (w)
3. Calculate the matrices Zn,j using recursive formulas:
the process ηt at the moment when a type-r user begins
service, r = 1, R, n = 0, N − 1;
j
d) The diagonal elements of the diagonal matrix 1n (0)
Zn,j = ntrj ,1 , n = 1, N , j = 1, R − 2,
determine the rates of the exit of the process ηt from the  j 
corresponding state. ntrj −w,1 I O ··· O
When the matrices Ln (S̃), S̃ ∈ {Sserv , Sout , Shand }, and  (w−1)
 Z1,j j
(n − 1)trj −w,1 I · · · O 

An (S) are computed, the matrices 1n are computed by 
(w−1)

O Z2,j ··· O 
 
formula (w)

Zn,j =  .. .. .. .. ,
 
1(n) = −diag{An (S)e + Ln (Sserv )e + Ln (Sout )e 
 . . . . 

j
+Ln (Shand )e}, n = 1, N ,
 

 O O · · · trj −w,1 I 

(w−1)
where diag{. . . } denotes the diagonal matrix with the O O · · · Zn,j
diagonal entries given by the vector presenting in the
brackets. w = 1, rj − 2, n = 1, N , j = 1, R − 2.
Remark 2: The analogs of the matrices Ln (S̃) and An (S)
were introduced in [7] and the algorithms for calculation of Here, I is the identity matrix and O is a zero matrix of
these analogs are presented there. However, these analogs an appropriate dimension.

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C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network

(w)
4. Calculate the matrices Un,j using recursive formulas: The algorithm for calculating the matrices Pn (β (r) ) can be
(0) j
found in the paper [8]. For the convenience of the reader,
Un,j = t1,rj , n = 0, N − 1, j = 1, R − 2, we present this algorithm. As follows from [8], the matrices
Pn (β), n = 0, N − 1, where β = (β1 , . . . , βR ), β ∈
j (w−1)

t1,rj −w I U0,j O ··· O O
{β (1) , β (2) , . . . , β (R) }, can be found as follows:
 O tj (w−1)
 
(w) 1,rj −w I U1,j ··· O O  (j)
Un,j =  . , 1. Calculate the matrices Pn of size (n + 1) × (n + 2),
.. .. .. .. 
 
 .. ..
 . . . . . 
 n = 1, N − 1, as:
j (w−1)
O O O · · · t1,rj −w I Un,j 
βR−1 βR 0 · · · 0 0


w = 1, rj − 2, n = 0, N − 1, j = 1, R − 2.  0 βR−1 βR · · · 0 0 
P(0)
n =  .. .. .. . . .. ..  ,
 
(r −2)  . . . . . . 
5. Calculate the matrices Zn,j = Zn,jj , n = 1, N , and
(r −2) 0 0 0 · · · βR−1 βR
Un,j = Un,jj ,
n = 0, N − 1, j = 1, R − 2.
β̂j z (j)
 
(w) (w) 0 0 ··· 0 0
6. Calculate the matrices An = An (S) using recursive  0T β̂ I P(j−1) O · · · O O 
j 1
formulas:  
 0 O β̂j I P(j−1)
 T
P(j) ,

= · · · O O
0 nσR+ 2
 
0 ··· 0 0 n
 .. .. .. .. . . .. .. 
 
σ − +  . . . . . . . 
 R 0− (n − 1)σR · · · 0 0 

(j−1)
 0 2σ
R 0 ··· 0 0  0T O O O · · · β̂j I Pn
A(0)
n =  .. .. .. .. .. ..  ,
 
 .
 . . . . . 
 j = 1, R − 2,
 0 0 0 ··· 0 σ+  R
where β̂j = βR−j−1 and the vectors z(j) are defined as
0 0 0 · · · nσR− 0
n = 1, N , z(j) = (βR−j , βR−j+1 , . . . , βR ), j = 1, R − 2.
where σR− = sR,R−1 , σR+ = sR−1,R , 2. Calculate Pn (β) as
 
O nU0,j O ··· O O
(j−1) P0 (β) = β, Pn (β) = P(R−2)
n , n = 1, N − 1.
 Z1,j A
 1 (n − 1)U1,j · · · O O  
(j−1)
 O Z
2,j A2 ··· O O  Having the matrices that describe the service process of
A(j) ,
 
n =  .. .. .. .. .. .. users ηt been computed, we can prove the following assertion.

 . . . . . .

 (j−1)

 Theorem 1: The infinitesimal generator Q of Markov
 O O O · · · An−1 1 Un−1,j  chain ζt , t ≥ 0, has the following block-tridiagonal
(j−1)
O O O · · · Zn,j An structure:
n = 1, N , j = 1, R − 2. 
Q0,0 Q0,1 O . . . O O

 Q1,0 Q1,1 Q1,2 . . . O O
7. Calculate the matrices An (S) as

 O Q2,1 Q2,2 . . .
 
Q= O O .

An (S) = A(R−2)
n , n = 1, N .  .. .. .. . . .. ..
 . . . . . .


The algorithm for calculation of the matrices Ln (S̃), S̃ ∈ O O O . . . QN +K ,N +K −1 QN +K ,N +K
{Sserv , Sout , Shand }, S̃ = (S̃1 , . . . S̃R ), n = 1, N , consists of (2)
the following steps:
(R−1)
1. Compute the matrices Ln (S̃), n = 1, N , from The non-zero generator blocks are defined as follows:
recursions
Q0,0 = D0 ⊕ H0 ,
Ln(0) (S̃) = nS̃R , Qn,n = D0 ⊕ H0 ⊕ (An (S) + 1n ), n = 1, N − 1,
 
nS̃R−w I O ··· O Qn,n = D0 ⊕ H0 ⊕ (AN (S) + 1N ) + (D − D0 ) ⊗ IVJN
 L (w−1) (S̃) (n − 1)S̃ ···
R−w I O 
 1
(w−1)
 −(n − N )αIWVJN , n = N , N + K − 1,
O L2 (S̃) ··· O
 
Ln(w) (S̃) =  , QN +K ,N +K = D0 ⊕ H0 ⊕ (AN (S) + 1N ) + (D − D0 ) ⊗ IVJN
 
.. .. .. ..
. . . .
 



 +IW ⊗ H1 ⊗ IJN − K αIWVJN ,
 O O · · · S̃R−w I 
(w−1) Qn,n−1 = IWV ⊗ (Ln (Sserv ) + Ln (Sout )
O O · · · Ln (S̃)
+Ln (Shand )), n = 1, N ,
w = 1, R − 1, n = 1, N .
Qn,n−1 = IWV ⊗ ((LN (Sserv ) + LN (Sout ) + LN (Shand ))
2. Calculate the matrices Ln (S̃), as ×PN −1 (β R )) + (n − N )αIWVJN ,
Ln (S̃) = Ln(R−1) (S̃), n = 1, N . n = N + 1, N + K ,

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 C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
R
X of these transitions are the non-diagonal entries of the matrix
Qn,n+1 = Dr ⊗ IV ⊗ Pn (β r )
r=1
+IW ⊗ H1 ⊗ Pn (β R ), n = 0, N − 1,
Qn,n+1 = IW ⊗ H1 ⊗ IJN , n = N , N + K − 1,
where

n+R−1

(n + R − 1)!
Jn = = .
R−1 n!(R − 1)!
Here ⊗ and ⊕ are the symbols of the Kronecker product and
the sum of matrices, see [32], which are very helpful in the
description of joint transitions of several independent Markov
chains.
Proof: The proof of the theorem is implemented by the
analysis of all possible transitions of the Markov chain ζt
during an interval of infinitesimal length and rewriting the
intensities of such transitions in the block matrix form.
Since we assume that users arrive and can be serviced only
one by one, the probability that more than one user will arrive
or be served in the system during a time of infinitely small
length tends to zero. Thus, all the matrices Qn,n0 = O for n
and n0 such as |n − n0 | > 1. So, the generator Q has a block-
tridiagonal form.
The diagonal entries of the matrices Qn,n , n = 0, N + K ,
are negative and the modulus of such entries gives the total
intensity of the exit from the corresponding state. The Markov
chain ζt can leave its state due to the following reasons:
a) The exit of the underlying arrival process of ordinary
users from the current state. The intensities of the exits are
given by the modulus of the corresponding diagonal entries
of the matrix D0 ;
b) The exit of the underlying arrival process of handover
users from the current state. The intensities of the exits are
given by the modulus of the corresponding diagonal entries
of the matrix H0 ;
c) The change of the state of the service process of one
of the users (if there are users in the system). In the case if
n users are serviced in the system, the intensities of these
transitions are given by the modulus of the corresponding
diagonal entries of the matrix 1n ;
d) One of the handover users (if any) leaves the buffer
due to impatience. If k handover users stay in the buffer,
the intensities of these transitions are defined by the diagonal
entries of the matrix kαIWVJN .
The non-diagonal entries of the matrices Qn,n define the
transition intensities of the components of the Markov chain
ζt that are not accompanied by the change of the number of
users in the system n, n = 0, N + K . The corresponding
transitions are the following:
a) The change of the state of the underlying arrival process
of ordinary users without the arrival of a user (the intensities
of these transitions are the non-diagonal entries of the
matrix D0 );
b) The change of the state of the underlying arrival process
of handover users without the arrival of a user. The intensities
106940
H0 ;
c) The arrival of an ordinary user when N users are
servicing in the system. In this case, the arriving user leaves
the system. The corresponding intensities are given by the
entries of the matrix (D − D0 ) ⊗ IVJN ;
d) The arrival of a handover user when K handover users
are staying in the buffer. In this case, the arriving user also
leaves the system, and the corresponding intensities are given
by the entries of the matrix IW ⊗ H1 ⊗ IJN .
e) Some user (if any) transits to another zone. The
transition intensities are given by the entries of the matrix
IWV ⊗ An (S) if the current number of users in service is
n, n = 1, N .
Taking into account all these reasonings we obtain the form
of the blocks Qn,n , n = 0, N + K .
The entries of the matrices Qn,n−1 , n = 1, N + K , define
the transition intensities of the components of the Markov
chain ζt that are accompanied by the decrease of the number
of users in the system n by one. The corresponding transitions
are the following:
a) Some user leaves the cell due to (i) successful service
completion, (ii) dissatisfaction of the quality of service,
and (iii) handover. In the case, if there are n users in service
and the buffer is empty, the corresponding intensities are
given as the entries of the matrices IWV ⊗ Ln (Sserv ), IWV ⊗
Ln (Sout ), and IWV ⊗ Ln (Shand ), respectively. If the buffer is
not empty, the intensities are given by the entries of the
matrices IWV ⊗Ln (Sserv )PN −1 (β R ), IWV ⊗Ln (Sout )PN −1 (β R ),
and IWV ⊗ Ln (Shand )PN −1 (β R ).
b) A handover user (if any) leaves the buffer due to
impatience. The intensities of such transitions are given by
the entries of the matrix kαIWVJN if k users stay in the buffer.
Taking into account these reasonings, we obtain the
presented above form of the blocks Qn,n−1 , n = 1, N + K .
The entries of the matrices Qn,n+1 , n = 0, N + K − 1,
define the transition intensities of the components of the
Markov chain ζt that are accompanied by the increase of the
number of users in the system n by one. The corresponding
transitions are the following:
a) An ordinary user of any type is admitted to the system.
The corresponding intensities are given by the entries of the
PR
matrix Dr ⊗ IV ⊗ Pn (β r ), n = 0, N − 1.
r=1
b) A handover user is admitted to the system. The
corresponding intensities are given by the entries of the
matrix IW ⊗ H1 ⊗ Pn (β R ), n = 0, N − 1, if the accepted user
starts service upon arrival, and by the entries of the matrix
IW ⊗ H1 ⊗ IJN otherwise.
Taking into account these reasonings, it is easy to obtain
the form of the blocks Qn,n+1 , n = 0, N + K − 1.
The size of the square matrix Q defined by formula (2)
N
Jn + KJN ) = WV ( N R+R + K N R−1 +R−1

P

is equal to WV ( )
n=0
and can be large. Therefore, to solve system (1) of the linear
algebraic equations with this matrix, it is necessary to use
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C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network

some effective algorithms that exploit the sparse structure The loss probability of an arbitrary handover user upon
of the generator Q. In particular, the algorithm from [33] arrival due to the presence of K other handover users in the
can be recommended to find the stationary probability buffer is calculated as
distribution of the Markov chain and the queueing system
under consideration. Pent−loss
hand = λ−1
h π N +K (IW ⊗ H1 ⊗ IJN )e.

The probability of the departure of an arbitrary user from

IV. PERFORMANCE MEASURES the considered cell to another cell is calculated as
After calculation of the probability vectors π n , n = sh
0, N + K , we can compute the values of various performance Phand = .
λ + λh
indicators of the considered queuing system.
The average number of users receiving service in a cell is The probability of a forced departure of an arbitrary user
calculated by the formula due to dissatisfaction with the quality of service is calculated
as
+K
NX s−
Nuser = min{n, N }π n e. Pdiss−loss = .
λ + λh
n=1
The loss probability of a handover user from the buffer due
The average number of handover users in the buffer is to impatience is calculated as
calculated using the formula
imp−loss αNhand
+K
NX Phand = .
λh
Nhand = (n − N )π n e.
n=N +1
The loss probability of a handover user is calculated as
imp−loss
The average number of users in the system is calculated by Ploss ent−loss
hand = Phand + Phand .
the formula
The loss probability of an arbitrary user is calculated as
L = Nuser + Nhand . s+ + sh
Ploss = 1 − .
λ + λh
The intensity of the output flow of successfully served
users is calculated as The probability of successful service of an arbitrary user in
+K
NX
the cell is calculated as Psucc = 1 − Ploss .
s+ = π n (IWV ⊗ Lmin{n,N } (Sserv ))e.
V. NUMERICAL EXAMPLE
n=1
In the previous sections, we successfully implemented the
The intensity of the output flow of users who are forced to analytical study of the formulated model. In this section,
stop serving due to unsatisfactory service is calculated as we demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed algorithms for
+K
NX the evaluation of various performance measures of the model.
s− = π n (IWV ⊗ Lmin{n,N } (Sout ))e. Also, we briefly show the effect of varying the number of
n=1 servers N and capacity K of the buffer for temporarily storing
the handover users.
The output flow rate of users who leave the system due to In the numerical example we consider a cell consisting of
handover is calculated as R = 3 zones. Let the MMAP of new users be determined by
+K
NX the matrices:
sh = π n (IWV ⊗ Lmin{n,N } (Shand ))e. 
−10 0
 
9.16 0.04

n=1 D0 = , D1 = ,
0 −2 0.012 0.404
The loss probability of an arbitrary ordinary user upon 
0.16 0.2
 
0.4 0.04

arrival due to the presence of N users in the cell is calculated D2 = , D3 = .
0.024 1.16 0 0.4
as
This flow has the intensity λ equal to 2.91139. The
+K
NX
intensities of users activation in various zones are equal
Pent−loss = λ−1 π n ((D − D0 ) ⊗ IVJN )e.
new to λ1 = 1.4167, λ2 = 1.09013, λ3 = 0.404557,
n=N
correspondingly. The coefficient of correlation of inter-arrival
The loss probability of an arbitrary ordinary user of the times is ccor = 0.187215, and the coefficient of their
r-th type upon arrival due to the presence of N users in the variation cvar is 1.64605. Let us note that λ1 > λ2 > λ3 .
cell is calculated as This ordering of arrival rates in descending order corresponds
+K
NX to assuming that the location of a base station in the cell
Pent−loss
r = λ−1
r π n (Dr ⊗ IVJN )e, r = 1, R. is chosen well. The station is located in the zone where the
n=N users’ arrival rate is maximal.

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 C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
The MAP of handover users is defined by matrices:
   
−0.3 0.05 0.245 0.005
H0 = , H1 = .
0.01 −0.05 0 0.04
This flow has the intensity λh equal to 0.0723077. The
coefficient of correlation is ccor = 0.146962, and the
coefficient of variation cvar is 1.76956. The stationary
probability vector ζ of the underlying Markov chain of the
flow of handover users is (0.1538, 0.8462) and the user arrival
rate is essentially higher when the underlying Markov chain
has the state 1. Such a choice of parameters looks fine, e.g.,
for modeling the cell within the business center of the city.
During the main part of the working day mobility of the
officers can be quite low. While during a relatively small time
(around beginning and ending the working day, lunchtime)
the mobility becomes much higher.
The user service in the cell is specified using the sub-
generator S, of the form
 
−0.5 0.05 0.001
S =  0.025 −0.3 0.03  ,
0.001 0.01 −0.1
and the vectors
Sserv = (0.446, 0.234, 0.064),
Sout = (0.003, 0.006, 0.01),
Shand = (0, 0.005, 0.015).
This choice of data fits well assumptions that the rate of
successful service is higher in the zones closer to the base
station, rate of service termination due to dissatisfaction with
the quality of service increases when the number of a zone
(with the distance to the base station) increases, handover
may occur only in border zones of the cell.
The value of the parameter α, which specifies the intensity
of the impatience of handover users staying in the buffer,
is α = 0.2.
Let us investigate the dependence of the main performance
characteristics of the system on the values of the parameters
N , defining the maximum number of users that can be
served in the cell simultaneously, and K , defining the buffer
capacity for handover users. To this end, we vary the
parameter N in the interval [1, 50], and the parameter K in the
interval [0, 10].
Figure 1 shows the dependence of the average number L of
users in the system on the values of the parameters N and K .
It can be seen that the average number L of users in the system
increases with an increase in the values of the parameters N
and K . Most essential is the impact of the maximal number of
users N that can receive service simultaneously. The increase
of N implies the decrease of the loss probabilities and the
decrease of the share of users that do not receive service.
More week impact of the buffer size is explained by the fact
that the rate of new users arrival is more than 40 times higher
than the rate of handover users. Therefore, the change of the
parameter K varies the average number L of users in the
system insignificantly.
106942
FIGURE 1. Dependence of the average number of users in the system on
N and K .
ent −loss on N and K .
FIGURE 2. Dependence of the probability Phand
Figure 2 shows the dependence of the loss probability
Pent−loss
hand of an arbitrary handover user on arrival due to the
presence of K other handover users in the buffer on the
values of the parameters N and K . It can be seen that
the probability Pent−loss
hand significantly decreases as the values
of the parameters N and K grow. When N is not large and
the buffer capacity K is small, the loss probability Pent−loss
hand
can be huge. Therefore, the arrangement of even a small
buffer for temporarily storing the arriving handover users
drastically decreases the probability of the loss of such users.
When N grows, the servers succeed to provide service to
practically all users. The probability that the handover user
will not succeed to enter service immediately upon arrival is
low. Correspondingly, the loss probability Pent−loss
hand becomes
negligible and independent of the size of the buffer.
imp−loss
Figure 3 shows the dependence of the probability Phand
of loss of a handover user from the buffer due to impatience
in the buffer on the values of the parameters N and K . This
probability decreases with an increase in the number of N
and increases with an increase in the capacity of the buffer
K . When N becomes sufficiently large, practically all users
succeed to enter service immediately upon arrival. Therefore,
only a few handover users join the buffer and wait for the
service there during the more essential time. However, when
N is relatively small, many handover users join the buffer and
wait there. With growth of K , the number of handover users
in the buffer increases what triggers the increase of the loss
probability of a handover user due to impatience.
Figure 4 shows the dependence of the loss probability
Ploss
hand of a handover user on the values of the parameters N
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C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
imp−loss
FIGURE 3. Dependence of the probability Phand on N and K .
loss on N and K .
FIGURE 4. Dependence of the probability of Phand
FIGURE 5. Dependence of the probability P1ent −loss on N and K .
and K . The probability Plosshand is the sum of the probabilities
imp−loss
Pent−loss
hand and P hand presented in Figures 2 and 3.
Therefore, explanation of the form of the surface presented
in Figure 4 follows from the corresponding explanations
given above for Figures 2 and 3.
Figures 5-7 show the dependence of the probabilities
Pent−loss
r , r = 1, 2, 3, of loss of an arbitrary r-th type user
at the entrance to the system due to the presence of N users
in the cell on the values of the parameters N and K .
It is worth noting that most of the presented dependencies
(in terms of the trend) are qualitatively clear and not
surprising. The value of the presented figures consists of the
fact that they characterize these dependencies quantitatively
what is important for the managerial insights.
As it can be seen from Figures 5-7, the loss probability
of an arbitrary user of each type significantly decreases with
an increase in the number N of servers and increases with
an increase in the buffer capacity for handover users. This
growth can be explained by the fact that with an increase in
VOLUME 9, 2021
FIGURE 6. Dependence of the probability P2ent −loss on N and K .
FIGURE 7. Dependence of the probability P3ent −loss on N and K .
the buffer capacity, a smaller number of handover users are
lost and, therefore, a larger number of these users compete
with new users generated inside the cell, which leads to
an increase in the loss probability at the entrance to the
system for users of the r-th type, r = 1, 2, 3. It should be
noted that for the same values of the parameters N and K ,
the loss probability of the first type users at the entrance of
the system is significantly higher than the loss probability of
users of the second and third types. This is because the input
flow of the first type users has the largest intensity among
other flows and is much more correlated: the coefficient
of correlation of intervals between type-1 users arrival is
cor1 = 0.352748. While the other coefficients of correlation
are cor2 = 0.0361307, and cor3 = −0.000040108.
The dependence of the loss probability of Pent−loss
new of a
new user upon arrival due to the presence of N users in
the cell on the values of N and K , is shown in Figure 8.
This probability is the weighted sum of loss probabilities
Pent−loss
r , k = r, 2, 3. Hence, the behavior of the surface
presented in Figure 8 easily is explained by analogy with the
explanation of Figures 5 - 7.
The dependence of the probability Pdiss−loss of a user
departure due to dissatisfaction with the quality of service on
the values of N and K , is shown in Figure 9.
As it can be seen from Figure 9, the probability Pdiss−loss
grows with the number of channels N . This can be explained
by the fact that with an increase of N the loss probability
Pent−loss
new of a new user upon arrival due to the presence
of N users in the cell illustrated on Figure 8 decreases.
Correspondingly, more ordinary users are accepted to the
system and can depart from the system due to dissatisfaction
with the quality of service. The probability Pdiss−loss is
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 C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
ent −loss on N and K .
FIGURE 8. Dependence of the probability Pnew
FIGURE 9. Dependence of the probability P diss−loss on N and K .
FIGURE 10. Dependence of the probability P loss on N and K .
practically insensitive with respect to the variation of the
buffer capacity K due to the mentioned above a small share
of handover users in the total flow of arriving users.
Figure 10 shows the dependence of the loss probability
Ploss of an arbitrary user on parameters N and K .
As can be seen from Figure 10, the loss probability Ploss
of an arbitrary user decreases with an increase in the number
of channels N . At the same time, for small values of N , this
probability grows with an increase in K . For example, for
N = 1 and K = 0, the probability Ploss = 0.943082,
while at N = 1 and K = 10 the probability is
Ploss = 0.950498. This, at the first glance, the paradoxical
effect can be explained as follows. By default, we assume
that handover users come to the outermost areas of the cell
with the worst signal strength. In other words, we assume that
handover users, when accepted for service, become users of
the R-th type, which have the longest service time. As the
buffer capacity increases, handover users take precedence
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over new users, which increases the average service time per
user. This leads to an increase in the probability of losing an
arbitrary user.
To build the presented surfaces, we made computations for
550 combinations of N and K (N ∈ {1, 50}, K ∈ {0, 10}).
The computations were implemented on a PC with
an Intel Core i7-10750H CPU (2.60 GHz), 16GB RAM,
Wolfram Mathematica 11.0. The total computation time for
550 combinations was 173 minutes (on average, 20 seconds
per combination). The computation time can be essentially
reduced via the use of a more advanced PC or workstation.
Having carried out a numerical study of the system
parameters, it is possible to solve various optimization
problems. Let, for example, the problem is to determine the
minimum number N of servers and the buffer capacity K , for
which: (i) the loss probability of an arbitrary handover user
would not exceed 10−5 , and (ii) the loss probability of an
arbitrary user would be less than 0.05. It can be found in the
data used for drawing Figures 4 and 10, that the minimum
values of N and K , for which both conditions (i) and (ii) are
satisfied, are equal to 39 and 3, respectively.
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a model of a queuing system, which describes
the operation of a cell of a mobile communication network,
is formulated and investigated. The cell is divided into R
zones that differ in the speed of user service. This system
is a generalization of the model studied in the paper [6]
because it takes into account the presence of an additional
flow of handover users. The treatment of this flow differs
from handling all other flows of users. If a handover user
arrives from another cell when all servers are busy, then
this user is not immediately lost, as the users of all other
flows do in such a situation. The arriving user is placed into
some buffer of a finite capacity if it is not full. The time
the user resides in the buffer is assumed to be limited by a
random variable having an exponential distribution. After this
time expires, the handover user is lost. The advantage of this
generalization is the greater adequacy of the mathematical
model to the operation of real cellular networks, in which a
handover user arriving at the cell when all channels in this
cell are busy can continue service in the cell, from which it is
moving until it leaves the area where the cells overlap.
A multi-dimensional Markov chain that describes the oper-
ation of this queuing system is constructed. Its infinitesimal
generator is obtained. During the derivation of the generator,
simpler than those known in the existing literature algorithms
for calculating some typical blocks of the generator are
proposed. This opens up the possibility of calculating the
stationary probabilities of the queuing system states, the main
characteristics of the quality of user service, and numerically
analyzing the dependence of these characteristics on the
system parameters to further search for the optimal values of
these parameters.
Possible generalizations of the model, which are of interest
from a practical point of view, include taking into account
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C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network
the possibility of repeated calls from the rejected ordinary
users, the possibility of changing the system parameters due
to the influence of some external random factors (random
environment), as well as the possibility of the more complete
use of the resource of the base station due to the use of a
uniform resource sharing among all active users. A model
with resource sharing was investigated in [34], but without
considering the presence of handover users. Due to the
complexity of the analyzed model, here we considered only
a single class of users. However, in the future it is desirable
to extend the analysis to cases with many user classes, e.g.,
classes of real-time and nonreal-time, static and moving,
slowly moving and quickly moving users, for references
see, e.g., [34].
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CHESOONG KIM (Member, IEEE) received the
Ph.D. degree in engineering from the Depart-
ment of Industrial Engineering, Seoul National
University, in 1993. From September 1998 to
August 1999, he was a Visiting Scholar with
the Department of Mechanical Engineering,
The University of Queensland, Australia. From
July 2003 to August 2004, he was a Foreign
Scientist with the School of Mathematics and
Statistics, Carleton University, Canada. From
August 2004 to August 2005, he was also a Visiting Professor with the
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Washington, USA.
He had scientific visits to Belarusian State University, the University of
Debrecen, and the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, respectively.
He is currently a Full Professor of business administration with the
Department of Industrial Engineering, Sangji University. He has published
around 100 articles in internationally refereed journals. His current
research interests include stochastic process, queueing theory with particular
emphasis on computer and wireless communication networks, queueing
network modeling, and their applications.
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 C. Kim et al.: Mathematical Model of Operation of Cell of Mobile Communication Network

ALEXANDER DUDIN received the Ph.D. degree OLGA DUDINA graduated from Belarusian State
in probability theory and mathematical statistics University, in 2007. She received the Ph.D. degree
from Vilnius University, in 1982, and the Doctor in probability theory and mathematical statistics
of Science degree from Tomsk University, in 1992. from Belarusian State University, in 2010. Her
He is currently the Head of the Laboratory of Ph.D. dissertation got award as the Best Disser-
Applied Probabilistic Analysis, a Professor with tation of the Year in the Republic of Belarus
the Probability Theory and Mathematical Statistics in Natural Sciences. She currently works as a
Department, Belarusian State University, and the Leading Scientific Researcher with the Research
Director of the Center of Applied Probabilistic Laboratory of Applied Probabilistic Analysis,
Analysis, Applied Mathematics and Communica- Belarusian State University. She published the
tions Technology Institute, RUDN University, Moscow. He was invited for monograph and over 90 articles, including 53 articles cited in Scopus. Her
lecturing and research to USA, U.K., Germany, France, The Netherlands, research interests include queueing tandem queueing models with correlated
Japan, South Korea, India, Russia, China, Italy, and Sweden. He is the arrival flows and non-Markovian queueing systems.
author of more than 400 publications, including five books and more than
120 articles in top-level journals, such as Journal of Applied Probabil-
ity, Queueing Systems, Performance Evaluation, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON
COMMUNICATIONS, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS, Annals
of Operations Research, Computers and Operations Research, Computer
Networks, and IEEE COMMUNICATIONS LETTERS. He serves as a member for
the IPC of several international conferences. He got Scopus Award Belarus
in Mathematics, in 2013. He has been the Chairman of the IPC of Belarusian
Winter Workshops in Queueing Theory, since 1985, and the Chairman of the
IPC of the conference named after A. F. Terpugov, since 2014.

SERGEI DUDIN graduated from Belarusian State

University, in 2007. He received the Ph.D. degree
in system analysis, control and information pro-
cessing from Belarusian State University, in 2010.
He currently works as a Leading Scientific
Researcher with the Research Laboratory of
Applied Probabilistic Analysis, Belarusian State
University. He published the monograph and over
100 articles, including 59 articles cited in Scopus.
His research interests include queueing systems
with correlated arrival flows and controlled tandem models.

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