A study of energy efficiency techniques using DRX for handover management in LTE-A networks

Abstract

For Internet access, smart phones and tablets have started replacing traditional computers. This change got encouraged with technological development like high-resolution screens, powerful processes and compact, long-lasting batteries. With numerous wireless technologies like Global Positioning System (GPS), Cellular and Wi-Fi etc., the mobile device is always connected to network and ready to perform tasks using various applications. The video conferencing and background application like messaging need higher throughput and need to be on network always, which results into regular battery consumption. So, with the recent increase of mobile data usage and the emergence of new applications, such as multimedia online gaming, mobile TV, Web 2.0, and streaming contents, have motivated the development of Long Term Evo­lution (LTE) and Long Term Evolution (LTE)-Advanced (A) technologies. In LTE, Discontinuous Reception (DRX) feature focused on the objective to make User Equipment (UE) energy efficient by saving battery. In this paper, we have explored and analyzed various methods in which DRX technique is used in LTE-A. We have also attempted to identify the role and impact of DRX on handover in LTE-A along with some directions future work.