Target cell coverage aware handover algorithm for ultradense heterogeneous networks

Abstract

Network densification is considered as the leading approach to meet the expectations of high data rates, sub 1ms latency, negligible packet loss rates, flexible deployment and other key network and user performance attributes however, several obstacles such as interference management, mobility management, back haul implementations, etc. exists that prevent a full commercial rollout. One of these hurdles includes the significant increase in number of handovers for mobile users due the ultra-dense deployment strategy of eNBs. In this work, we attempt to tackle this problem by developing a novel Cell Coverage Aware (CCA) strategy which augments the conventional strongest cell approach by factoring Target cell coverage size. Network performance attributes such as throughput, end to end delay, jitter and packet loss ratio for video streaming, VOIP and web browsing applications were monitored since they directly impact user QoE. Simulations were performed using NS3 discrete event simulator. In order to validate to performance of our approach, we perform a comparative analysis of our algorithm and the traditional approach under various traffic types. Results show that a handover saving of 33.3% can be achieved with CCA for considered topology at the cost of a marginal reduction network performance.