A region partition based handover strategy in heterogeneous networks

Abstract

This paper envisaged a heterogeneous network structure composed of cellular network (e.g. 3G/HSPA) and broadband wireless access network (e.g. WiMAX) in virtue of the individual coverage and capacity complementary characteristics. A handover strategy is proposed based on region partition in heterogeneous networks. The core idea of the strategy is that the users are classified into four groups in terms of users' relative location in the heterogeneous networks. Different strategy can be taken when the handovers are triggered in different regions. The objective is to satisfy the service requirement and maintaining an appropriate load balance in different regions. The performance of the handover strategy is evaluated through simulation analysis.