A Cross-Layer Parallel Handover Optimization Scheme for WiMAX Networks

Authors

Ting Zhou, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Hamid Sharif, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Michael Hempel, University of Nebraska LincolnFollow
Puttipong Mahasukhon, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Tao Ma, University of Nebraska LincolnFollow
Pradhumna Shrestha, University of Nebraska Lincoln

Date of this Version

2011

Citation

The 2011 Military Communications Conference - Track 2 - Network Protocols and Performance; doi: 10.1109/MILCOM.2011.6127757

Comments

Copyright 2011 IEEE

Abstract

The handover performance plays a crucial role in guaranteeing the quality of real-time applications in WiMAX networks. In general, a handover process can be divided into four stages: i) cell reselection, ii) handover preparation, iii) link layer handover, and iv) IP layer handover. A cross-layer parallel handover optimization (CPHO) scheme is proposed in this paper to reduce the handover signaling overhead and latency in each stage. The key idea of our proposed scheme is that uses the knowledge achieved from the backhaul inter-BS communications to reduce the HO control message load in wireless links and overlaps the executions of the link layer and the network layer handover process. Therefore the mean of the handover interruption time can be significantly reduced. The numerical analysis and simulation results show that the proposed approach significantly enhances the handover performance.