A goodness based vertical handoff algorithm for heterogeneous networks

Abstract

While moving across heterogeneous networks with strict rate requirement, the possibility of getting the required rate from the target network, depends on the QoS-awareness of the network selection strategy of the concerned vertical handoff (VHO) algorithm. Inclusion of MAC layer scheduling information in the design of different VHO algorithms has previously been very limited though it is important as both user and system performance depend on it. In this paper, we introduce the notion of goodness of an access network and based on it propose a goodness based VHO (GVHO) algorithm. The notion of goodness explicitly considers the MAC layer scheduling along with current load and interference of the candidate networks. The GVHO algorithm accounts the goodness values of the candidate networks to select the target network. Simulation results confirm that GVHO algorithm improves both user and system performance compared to RSS and SINR based VHO algorithms.