Performance of Data Traffic in Small Cells Networks with Inter-Cell Mobility

We analyze the impact of inter-cell mobility on data traffic performance in dense networks with small cells. To this end, a Markovian queuing model with impatience is proposed as a generic tool that captures mobility through the sojourn time of users in the cell. An approximate model, based on Quasi-Stationary assumptions, is developed to speed up computation. We then show how the performance of a network of small cells is amenable to the application of the generic model to each individual cell; the analysis of a homogeneous network is further reduced to that of a single representative cell. Our approach is applied to derive the throughput of both mobile and static users, along with the probability of handover. Numerical evaluation and simulation results are provided to assess the accuracy of the approach and we show, in particular, that both classes of users benefit from a throughput gain induced by the "opportunistic" displacement of mobile users among cells.