Self‐organising comprehensive handover strategy for multi‐tier LTE‐Advanced heterogeneous networks

Abstract

LTE-Advanced was introduced as real 4G with its new features and additional functions, satisfying the growing demands of quality and network coverage for the network operators' subscribers. The term muti-tier has also being recently used with respect to the heterogeneity of the network by applying the various sub-network cooperative systems and functionalities with self-organizing capabilities. Using indoor short-range low-power cellular base stations e.g. femtocells, in cooperation with existing long-range macrocells are considered as the key technical challenge of this multi-tier configuration. Furthermore shortage of network spectrum is a major concern for network operators which forces them to spend additional attentions to overcome the degradation in performance and quality of services in 4G HetNets. This research investigates handover between the different layers of a heterogeneous LTE-Advanced system, as a critical attribute to plan the best way of interactive coordination within the network for the proposed HetNet. The proposed comprehensive handover algorithm takes multiple factors in both handover sensing and decision stages, based on signal power reception, resource availability and handover optimization, as well as prioritization among macro and femto stations, to obtain maximum signal quality while avoiding unnecessary handovers.

QoS aware radio access technology selection framework in heterogeneous networks using SDN

“…For instance, papers [4], [11], [13], and [20] focus only on offloading the traffic from LTE to Wi-Fi networks. Other studies focus on RAT selection solutions for Het-Nets involving only LTE cells such as macro, femto and picocells [12], [17], and [18]. Finally, the works in [2], [3], [14]- [16], and [19] propose a complete integration between LTE and Wi-Fi going beyond the mere offloading from one network to another.…”

A Multi-Layer Parametric Approach to Maximize the Access Probability of Mobile Networks

“…Their results demonstrate the feasibility of softer vertical handover, with an achievable throughput as high as the sum of that provided by the single radio access technology, but they comment on the not negligible modifications required at some layers of the protocol stack. The paper in [2] proposes a comprehensive handover strategy based on a two-way handover for both macro-femto and femto-macro sides in LTE systems. Different steps are formulated to derive the decision process, these steps consider multiple system parameters and layers, but are only relevant to the LTE.…”

“…In this context, we take into account the above mentioned effect by properly using the memory coefficient d[l] in (12) so as to weight the past and reduce unnecessary network switches. 2 In fact, when we choose the network of the basis of J v [k], the effect of memory is already considered. Numerical results confirm this point as it will be clearer in the following.…”