IP Transmission over TETRA Packet Data Service: Simulation and Measurement Results

This paper evaluates the packet data performance of Internet Protocol (IP) over TErrestrial Trunked RAdio (TETRA), focusing on the effects of packet size and message transmission rate. We performed a range of simulations to evaluate the average packet delay and packet failure probability corresponding to IP datagram transmission on the Packet Data CHannel (PDCH) in a TETRA cell. We employed IP packets of different sizes and we considered a number of different scenarios with respect to the number of users in a cell and datagram transmission rate. The simulation results offer TETRA operators the means for facilitating network planning and optimization of datagram-based services. Apart from the simulation, we also conducted an extensive measurement survey on the performance of IP over the TETRA PDCH. In particular, we carried out measurements in a client–server communication scenario with different datagram sizes and typical user mobility and radio propagation conditions. Measurement results include throughput, delay jitter, percentage of lost datagrams and out-of-order datagrams. The results obtained through our measurement survey can extent and enhance the simulation results because they are more realistic and consider user mobility as well as channel impairments.