Handover Management Optimization for LTE Terrestrial Network with Satellite Backhaul

Long Term Evolution (LTE) prevails as the next 4th generation of mobile communications. Hybrid satellite and terrestrial LTE network takes advantages from the large satellite coverage for several emergency applications, such as providing civil security communications. In this paper we propose a LTE architecture partly composed of an integrated component with satellite backhaul on the LTE-S1 interface. Since ensuring seamless communications is essential in LTE, we describe an optimization of the handover mechanism adapted to this specific architecture. This paper focuses on the handover between an eNB with a satellite S1 interface and an eNB with a standard terrestrial S1 interface.