Radio resource management in WCDMA-based networks in emergency situations

The paper addresses a situation, when universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) network gets congested as a result of a catastrophe or an accident involving many people. The scenario of the situation and objectives for the network during the congestion are defined. Finally, two simple resource management algorithms useful in this case are compared. Their performance, when used separately and together, is evaluated with a UMTS system-level simulator and results presented. They suggest that usage of the techniques offers significant advantages, which surpass drawbacks. The advantages were more substantial when the techniques were combined.