Buffer Management in Cellular IP Network using PSO

Cellular IP networks deal with the concepts of micro-mobility. Buffer management in Cellular IP networks is very crucial as its proper usage not only increases the throughput of the network but also results in the reduction of the call drops. This article proposes a model for buffer management in Cellular IP network using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), an evolutionary computational method often used to solve hard problems. The model considers two kinds of buffers; Gateway buffer and Base Station buffer. In the proposed two-tier model, the first tier applies a prioritization algorithm for prioritizing real-time packets in the buffer. In the second tier PSO algorithm is used on a swarm of cells in the network. PSO is applied for a given time slot, called window. In each window period the swarm can store number of packets depending on the window size and the total number of packets. The effect of various parameters e.g. number of packets, size of packets, window size, and a threshold value on buffer utilization has been studied by conducting the simulation experiments. [Article copies are available for purchase from InfoSci-on-Demand.com]