Design and Evaluation of a Time Efficient Vertical Handoff Algorithm between LTE-A and IEEE 802 . 11 ad Wireless Networks

By moving through the 5th generation (5G) of wireless communications, great enhancements and progress are visible in the wireless network protocols and their management methods. LTE-A and IEEE 802.11ad are two of the networks that can have complementary roles in 5G networking. This paper proposes a time efficient, predictive, and dynamic handoff algorithm between these two protocols. The algorithm presented measures the Signal to Interference Plus Noise Ratio (SINR), the Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), velocity, and the Time of Stay (ToS) for pedestrian mobile users and calculates the best Time to Trigger (TTT) value accordingly. At the next step, obtainable throughput from target antenna and user’s Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements are considered as another decision parameter. One of the main advances of this algorithm is that the TTT value is calculated dynamically regarding user’s velocity and Handoff Failure Ratio (HoFR). The algorithm presented estimates the user’s next location and velocity using a Gauss-Markov mobility model and the Location Positioning Protocol (LPP) of LTE-A. Comparisons with other algorithms in this area determine that the algorithm proposed gains the least HoFR for these two protocols by avoiding unnecessary handoffs. Keywords—Handoff, LTE-A, 802.11ad, Seamless Connection, Heterogeneous Networks, Offloading.

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