Analysis of throughput and fairness of WCDMA networks with downlink scheduling

In this paper we develop a theoretical framework which enables us to analyze the throughput and fairness performance of various downlink scheduling schemes in WCDMA networks. For theoretical analysis, the following scheduling schemes are considered: (i) the Round Robin scheme, (ii) the maximum carrier-to-interference ratio (C/I) scheme and (iii) the proportional fair scheme. By deriving a close approximation to the probability density function of new, exact throughput and fairness expressions are formulated for the above scheduling schemes, by which a rigorous quantitative comparison among them can be performed. The results verify that throughput and fairness performance of each scheduling scheme depends largely on mobile users' location in the active cell. In general, the Round Robin scheme has the worst throughput performance among them, while the proportional fair scheme provides a better trade-off between throughput and fairness.