A Survey-Based Mobility Model of People for Simulation of Urban Mesh Networks

In this paper a mobility model of people in urban areas for mobile wireless network simulation is presented. Unlike most mobility models found in the literature, this model attempts to provide realistic mobility of people in an urban setting. To this end, the model is based on data collected through a number of surveys. The result is a 3-layer hierarchical model where the highest layer is an activity model that determines the high level activity that the node is performing (e.g., working). The second layer is a task model that determines the specific task within an activity (e.g., meeting with three people). And the third layer is an agent model that determines how the person moves from one location to another (e.g., how a node navigates down a crowded hallway). The activity model is based on a recent US Department of Bureau of Labor Statistics time-use study. The task model focuses on mobility of office workers and is based on the current findings by the meetings analysis research community. The agent model is based on the work from urban planning that has extensive knowledge of pedestrian flow. The models presented are implemented in a mobility simulator that is integrated with a propagation model.