Performance analysis of signaling delay for wireless cellular networks

In wireless cellular networks, signaling traffic such as location update, paging and handoff due to the user's mobility takes a considerable portion of the total traffic load. In addition, the maximum allowable delays may be different among the signaling packets. In this paper, we present an analytical model for evaluating a total processing delay of signaling packets of wireless cellular networks, which integrates the delays of the radio channel and the processing delay at the wired portion. Through numerical examples, we show that priority processing is effective for reducing the handoff processing delays. We also evaluate the delay difference among cells according to their position within the location area, and the influence of number of terminals upon the processing delays.