29th NATIONAL RADIO SCIENCE CONFERENCE

(NRSC 2012)
April 10 Ǧ12, 2012, Faculty of Engineering/Cairo University, Egypt

C4. Vertical Handoff in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks with Predictive SINR using
GM(1,1)
Gamal Abd El-Fadeel1, Abd El-Rahman El-Sawy2, Michael Joseph Adib3
1
Engineering, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt, gam_hel@yahoo.com
2
Engineering, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt, aelsawy@seegypt.com
3
Engineering, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt, michael_jozeph@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
Heterogeneous wireless network consists of various wireless networks, WiMAX, WiFi and cellular
communications. Future wireless networks must be able to coordinate services within a diverse-network
environment. One of the challenging problems for coordination is vertical handoff. In this article a Multi-attributes
SINR Based Vertical Handoff Algorithm for Next Generation Heterogeneous Wireless Networks with Predictive
SINR Using GM (1, 1) is proposed. The proposed algorithm uses the combined effects of SINR, user required
bandwidth, user traffic cost, utilization from participating access networks and user preference to make handoff
decision QoS aware which cannot be achieved with the use of traditional RSS as a vertical handoff criteria. The
problem of when to trigger handoff request is handled by using GM (1, 1), Grey Model first order one variable,
forecasting technique to predict the next SINR value. If it is lower than a pre-specified threshold, handoff request
will be fired. Simulation results have shown that the proposed algorithm performs better in terms of less cost to
user traffic, higher user satisfaction as well as higher system throughput.

Keywords: Heterogeneous wireless networks, Vertical Handoff, SINR, GM (1, 1).

I. INTRODUCTION
Wireless networking systems, including Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) and
Wireless Fidelity (WiFi), and mobile communications, such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
(UMTS) [Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA),Time Division-CDMA (TD-CDMA) ,Time
Division-Synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA) and High Speed Downlink Packet Access/High Speed Uplink
Packet Access (HSDPA/HSUPA)],cdma2000 ,EVDO, and LTE , are rapidly being developed to achieve high-
speed transmission. These heterogeneous wireless networks obviously have differences in data rates, transmission
ranges, traffic classes, and access costs. However, the integration of WLANs and cellular networks has attracted
the most attention, because, currently, WLANs and cellular networks coexist and many cellular devices have dual
radio-frequency (RF) interfaces for WLANs and cellular access. Some previous studies on vertical handoff [1],
[2], [3], [4] are using Received Signal Strength (RSS) as the basic handoff decision indicator, in which handoff
decisions are made by comparing the RSS with the preset threshold values. However, the achievable data rate of a
mobile node (MN) is a function of received Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR), which is proportional
to the distance between Access Point (AP) or Base Station (BS) and the MN, as well as the current interference
level in the network. Using RSS based vertical handoff, a MN will handoff to another network, when it can not
receive the pre-established minimum receiving power from the original network. Use of RSS based vertical
handoff in integrated heterogeneous networks to support multimedia services cannot provide the user with the
multimedia QoS throughout, as the vertical handoff algorithm itself is not QoS aware. This may result in
premature handoff from the original network to the target network, even though the user achievable data rate from
original network is still much higher than it may get from target network. Using the RSS as the handoff indicator,
we are not achieving the best possible performance of the integrated wireless networks. To provide seamless
handover in heterogeneous wireless network, a SINR based vertical handoff that can support multimedia QoS is
desirable. Some previous studies for vertical handoff in heterogeneous wireless networks such as combined SINR
based vertical handoff (CSVH) [5] from both WLAN and WCDMA networks has shown that using the Signal to
Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) as the handoff indicator results in higher throughput for both end users and
the system as compared with the RSS based vertical handoff. In this article, to provide seamless vertical handoff
with multi-attribute QoS support, a multi-attribute vertical handoff algorithm with predictive SINR using GM (1,
1) is proposed which uses SINR, user required bandwidth, user traffic cost, utilization of each access network, and
user preference. The proposed algorithm will be used in passive mode not in active mode as in [6] and the handoff
will be fired when the predicted value of SINR will be less than a pre-established threshold value determined by
application or QoS restrictions.

978-1-4673-1887-7/12/$31.00 ©2012 IEEE 175

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(NRSC 2012)
April 10 Ǧ12, 2012, Faculty of Engineering/Cairo University, Egypt

The main functions of the proposed approach include the following:

1) SINR prediction using GM (1, 1) approach;

2) Determination of the best target network to handoff.

Simulation results have shown that the proposed algorithm performs better in terms of less cost to user traffic,
higher user satisfaction as well as higher system throughput.

II. NETWORK MODEL AND SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

A heterogeneous wireless network may consist of HSDPA/WCDMA/cdma2000 and WiMAX/WiFi networks.
The differences among them are in several aspects such as network architecture, cell coverage, access control
mechanisms, bandwidth, transmission technique, and accessing cost, as demonstrated in Table 1.

Table 1: Comparisons of WiFi, Wi-MAX, and 3G/B3G

Network IEEE 802.11g IEEE 802.16e Cellular
characteristics WiFi Wi-MAX systems(3G/B3G)
Small range (100 - Medium range (2 - Large range (3 -
Coverage
300m) 5Km) 10Km)
Medium (up to 30 Low (up to 14.4
Bandwidth High (up to 54 Mbps)
Mbps) Mbps)
Deployment
Low Medium Very High
Cost
Cost of data
Low Medium High
service

An example of a heterogeneous wireless network consisting of WiMAX, WiFi, UMTS/B3G and

cdma2000/EVDO is demonstrated in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, a MN can be existed at a given time in the
coverage area of an UMTS or cdma2000/EVDO alone. However, due to mobility, it can move into the regions
covered by more than one access network, i.e., simultaneously within the coverage areas of, for example, an
UMTS BS and an IEEE 802.11 AP. Multiple IEEE 802.11 WLAN coverage areas may be contained within an
UMTS coverage area or at the boundaries. A WiMAX coverage area can overlap with WLAN and/or UMTS
coverage areas. In dense urban areas, even the coverage areas of multiple UMTS/cdma2000 BSs can overlap. Due
to the nature of any heterogeneous network, a single operator or multiple operators may operate the BSs and APs
within a coverage area. Thus, multiple access technologies and multiple operators are typically involved in
vertical handoff decisions. Hence, there is a need for a common language in which the link-layer information and
the MNs’ information can be exchanged between different networks and/or operators. Here, this common
language is provided by the Media-Independent handover Function (MIHF) which is being defined in IEEE
802.21 [7], [10]. As shown in Fig.1, how it is envisioned the vertical handoff decision to be implemented. It is
suggested that the proposed vertical handoff algorithm is implemented in multiple Vertical Handoff Decision
Controller (VHDCs). These VHDCs are located in the access networks, as shown in Fig.1, and can provide the
vertical handoff decision function for a region covering one or multiple APs and/or BSs. It is envisioned that the
decision inputs for the VHDCs will be obtainable via the MIHF of IEEE 802.21 [10]. The MIHF facilitates
standards-based message exchanges between the various access networks (or attachment points) to share
information about the current link-layer conditions, traffic load and utilization, network capacities, traffic cost,
user preference, etc.

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VHDC protocol stack

Handoff algorithm WLAN cdma2000/EV-DO

MIHF
UMTS,
Link layer
cdma2000, UMTS
802.11, Physical layer (WCDMA/TD-CDMA/TD-
Wi-MAX SCDMA/HSDPA/HSUPA) VHDC

WLAN

Wi-MAX
MN protocol stack VHDC

Application layer WLAN

MIHF

Link layer

Physical layer MIHF: Media Independent Handoff Function at layer 2.5

Fig. 1: Heterogeneous wireless network architecture with VHDC implementation based on IEEE802.21 MIHF.

III. SINR PREDICTION

In this proposal, SINR will be treated as time series. A time series is a collection of data points which are
generally sampled equally in time intervals. Time series prediction refers to the process by which the future values
of a system is forecasted based on the information obtained from the past and current data points. There are many
traditional methods for regression such as linear regression, exponential regression, and polynomial regression [9].
However grey model GM (1, 1) [8], [9] is adopted in this paper because it is more suitable for prediction of highly
noisy data such as SINR in the mobile air interface environment. Grey models predict the future values of a time
series based only on a set of the most recent data depending on the window size of the predictor. It is assumed that
all data values to be used in grey models are positive, and the sampling frequency of the time series is fixed. From
the simplest point of view, grey models which will be formulated below can be viewed as curve fitting
approaches. Grey model GM (1, 1) needs a few points to predict well, and few parameters and low computation
are used during the modelling. So GM (1, 1) is used in this proposal for SINR prediction because it is suitable for
mobile environment which gives great attention for computation which will affect the battery life time.

A. Importance of SINR Prediction using GM(1,1)

The SINR based vertical handoff can operate under active mode or passive mode [11].

In active mode, also called proactive mode, the user is continuously seeking for maximum available bandwidth
from the integrated networks. The user keeps measuring receiving SINR for every network in the heterogeneous
network, conducting the SINR conversion and sending the handoff request to VHDC based on the SINR
comparison results. Obviously, the active mode has the advantage of self detection, and resulting in less handoff
delays, and also can be deployed for cells under low load condition. But it suffers from two problems. The first
problem is the higher battery drain of the MNs as a result of every MN in the network must observe all the
networks continuously in the heterogeneous network which results in more power dissipation form the MN battery
and the battery life time will be decreased. The second problem is due to huge number of handoff requests to the
VHDC because any MN finds a better SINR will request handoff even if the MN is already receive a sufficient
SINR value ,which will be a load to the system ,causing unnecessary handoffs and increasing the handoff
overhead. Fewer handoffs indicate a better handoff algorithm.

In the passive mode, also called reactive mode, the measurements of user receiving SINR from every network
in the heterogeneous network are periodically measured and sent to VHDC directly and the handoff request is sent
after waiting for the deterioration of the existing session link below certain threshold to VHDC, in which the

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handoff decisions are made according to the SINR values, the user specific QoS requirements, as well as the cell
congestion conditions. Obviously, the passive mode is preferable from the network operator’s point of view,
because of the decreased handoff overhead but it suffers from handoff delay which results in higher chances of
dropped sessions. A comparison between active mode and passive mode is demonstrated in Table 2.

Table 2: Summarizes the Pros and Cons of each Mode

Mode Pros cons

Active (Proactive) 1- Better chances to adapting 1. Higher battery
to network, application, drain.
and data link changes. 2. Increased handoff
2- Lower chances of dropped overhead.
sessions.
3- Less handoff delays.
Passive (Reactive) 1. Preserves battery power. 1- Higher handoff
2. Lower computational delay.
processing.
3. Decreased handoff
overhead.

So, passive mode will be adopted because of its advantages. Predicting SINR using GM (1, 1) is adopted to
overcome the handoff delay problem in the passive (reactive) mode. So SINR prediction is very important in this
proposal.

B. GM (1, 1) Based Predictive SINR Approach

In grey systems theory, GM (n, m) denotes a grey model, where n is the order of the difference equation and m
is the number of variables. Although various types of grey models can be used, GM (1, 1) model is adopted in
SINR predictions because of its computational efficiency. It should be noted that in real time applications, the
computational burden is the most important parameter after the performance. GM (1, 1) is pronounced as ‘‘Grey
Model First Order One Variable”. The differential equations of the GM (1, 1) model have time-varying
coefficients. In other words, the model is renewed as the new data become available to the prediction model. In
this proposal, prediction of SINR consists of two steps, i.e., the preprocess step and the prediction step.

Step 1- Preprocess step:

In order to smooth the randomness, the primitive SINR data obtained from the system to form the GM (1, 1) is
subjected to an operator, named Accumulating Generation Operator (AGO). The differential equation (i.e. GM (1,
1)) is solved to obtain the n-step ahead predicted value of the SINR. Finally, using the predicted value, the Inverse
Accumulating Generation Operator (IAGO) is applied to find the predicted values of original data. Consider a
time sequence x ( 0 ) that denotes the SINR values

(0) (0) (0) (0)

x (x (1), x ( 2 ),......, x ( n )), n ! 4 (1)
(0)
where x is a non-negative SINR sequence and n is the sample size of the data. When this sequence is subjected
to the Accumulating Generation Operation (AGO), the following sequence x (1) is obtained. It is obvious that x (1)
is monotonically increasing.

(1 ) (1 ) (1 ) (1 )
x (x (1), x ( 2 ),......, x ( n )), n ! 4 (2)
where

k
¦
(1 ) (0)
x (k ) x (i ), k 1, 2 , 3 ,...., n (3)
i 1

The purpose of the preprocess is to smooth the fitting curve. For instance, an original data sequence of {10, 30,
20, 50} becomes {10, 40, 60,110} after preprocessing.

Step 2 – SINR Prediction step:

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After the preprocess step, the new data sequence x (1) is used as the input data for curve fitting in the SINR
(1 )
prediction step. The generated mean sequence z of x (1) is defined as:

(1 ) (1 ) (1 ) (1 )
z (z (1), z ( 2 ),...., z (n) (4)
where z (1) ( k ) is the mean value of adjacent data, i.e.

(1 ) (1 ) (1 )
z (k ) 0 .5 x ( k )  0 .5 x ( k  1), k 2 , 3 ,...., n . (5)

The least square estimate sequence of the grey difference equation of GM (1, 1) is defined as follows:

(0) (1 )
x ( k )  az (k ) b (6)

The whitening equation is therefore, as follows:

(1 )
dx (t )
 ax
(1 )
(t ) b (7)
dt

In above, a,b is a sequence of parameters that can be found as follows:

T T 1 T
[a, b] (B B) B Y (8)
where

Y >x (0)
( 2 ), x
(0)
( 3 ),...., x
(0)
(n) @T
(9)

ª  z (1 ) ( 2 ) 1º
« (1 ) »
«  z (3) 1»
« . .»
B « » (10)
« . .»
« »
. .
« »
(1 )
«¬  z ( n ) 1 »¼

(1 )
According to (7), the solution of x (t ) at time k:

(1 ) ª (0) b º  ak b
x p ( k  1) «x (1 )  »e  (11)
¬ a ¼ a

To obtain the predicted value of the primitive SINR data at time (k + 1), the IAGO is used to establish the
following grey model.

(0) ª (0) b º  ak a
x p ( k  1) « x (1 )  »e (1  e ) (12)
¬ a ¼

IV. VERTICAL HANDOFF ALGORITHM IN HETEROGENEOUS WIRELESS NETWORKS

Although the vertical handoff algorithm proposed in this research is general to cope with any combination of
different networks which make integrated heterogeneous network as presented in the network model and system
description in Section II, WLAN and B3G will be investigated because, currently, WLANs and cellular networks
coexist and many cellular devices have dual radio-frequency (RF) interfaces for WLANs and cellular access.

In this proposal, downlink traffic is given the concentration, because it normally requires higher bandwidth
than uplink, especially for multimedia services such as video streaming using the HSDPA channel while
connected with WCDMA. The proposed handoff algorithm can be analytically presented by assuming that, there

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are m BS: BS1, BS2,..., BSm, and n APs: AP1, AP2,. . . , APn, where all candidate BSs and APs for the user can be
indexed by 1 to m+n in a set A:

A [ BS 1 , BS 2 ,...., BS m , AP1 , AP 2 ,...., AP n ] (13)

For each handoff event , which is fired when predicted SINR is lower than threshold, best BS or AP from the
candidate set A for each user will be determined by the handoff algorithm residing in VHDC with the
consideration of the following criteria: SINR, user required bandwidth, cost to user traffic , network utilization
and user preference. All attributes of the handoff algorithm can be negotiated using MIHF of IEEE 802.21 which
makes this proposal applicable in a standard way to fit all vendors and operators.

A. Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio

Maximum achievable data rate for the given carrier bandwidth and SINR can be determined with the help of
Shannon capacity formula. The maximum achievable data rate R AP from WLAN and R BS from WCDMA for a
connected user can be represented by the receiving SINR from these two networks J AP and J BS respectively [12],
[13] as:
J AP
R AP W AP log 2 (1  ) (14)
* AP

J BS
R BS W BS log 2 (1  ) (15)
* BS

where W AP , W BS are carrier bandwidth of WLAN and WCDMA, and * AP , * BS are the channel coding loss
factors for WLAN and WCDMA respectively. Since, the data rate of both networks are different, therefore to
compare the SINR of the two networks, the SINR from the first network must be converted to the SINR of the
second network. Thus, assuming the data rates R AP and R BS to be equal, the relationship between the SINR of
WCDMA as well as WLAN can be obtained as given below in (16):

W AP
J
J BS * BS (( 1 
AP
)
W BS
 1) (16)
* AP

Knowing the data rate from both the networks, the SINR from AP can be converted to the equivalent SINR of BS
using the equation (16). Now the SINR from WCDMA and WLAN can be compared as an attribute to make the
handoff decision. Sets of SINR values for a user i received from all BSs ( S BS , i ) and all APs ( S AP , i ) at a particular
instant of time are:
S BS , i [J BS 1 , i , J BS 2 , i ,....., J BS ,i ] (17)
m

S AP , i [J AP1 , i ,J AP 2 , i ,....., J AP n , i ] (18)

It is assumed that a BS transmits to only one user via HSDPA channel at a time, with maximum power to achieve
the optimal physical rate. The SINR J BSj , i received by a user i from WCDMA BSj can be represented as [16]:

G BSj , i PBSj , i
J BSj , i m
(19)
P0  ¦ (G BSk , i P BSk )  G BSj , i D ( P BSj  PBSj , i )
k 1
kz j

where PBSj is the total transmitting power of BSj , PBSj , i is the transmitting power of BSj to user i, G BSj , i is the
channel gain between user i and BSj , D is the orthogonality factor, P0 is thermal noise power. For WLAN,
Distributed Coordination Function (DCF) is used, with only one station can transmit at one time within the
coverage of an AP [14]. The SINR J APj , i received by a user i from WLAN APj can be represented as:

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G APj , i P APj
J APj , i n
(20)
PB  ¦G APk , i P APk
k 1
kz j

where P APj is the transmitting power of AP j , G APj , i is the channel gain between user i and AP j , PB is the
background noise power. Using (16), the SINR received from APs ( S AP , i ) is converted to the equivalent SINR
( S cAP , i ) to achieve the same data rate via BS as:
W AP
S AP , i
S cAP , i * BS (( 1  )
W BS
 1) (21)
* AP

The set of SINR value S i of all BSs and APs in candidate set A (13) for the user i can be represented by:

Si S BS , i  S cAP , i (22)

B. User Required Bandwidth

For a required bandwidth R i for a user i, the minimum receiving SINR from BS ( J min, i ) can be calculated from
(15) as:
Ri

J m in, i * BS ( 2
W BS
 1)
(23)

The indices of the BSs and APs in A (13) that can provide the required R i for the user i can be determined by:

( S i  J min, i ) t 0 (24)

where S i is the value of SINR received by the user i from a BS or AP.

C. User Traffic Cost

Let C be the system cost vector, representing the cost of user traffic transmission through each candidate BS or
AP:
C C BS  C AP (25)

where the sets C BS and C AP are the cost of each candidate BS and AP:

C BS [ C BS , C BS ,......, C BS ]
1 2 m
(26)

C AP [ C AP , C AP ,......, C AP ]
1 2 n
(27)

Both the packet transmission cost and processing cost through the access network contribute to the total cost.
Higher cost not only means more system operation cost, but may also result in more packet delay.

D. Access network utilization

Let U be the system utilization vector, represented by the percentage of utilization of each candidate BS and
AP:
U U BS  U AP (28)

where the sets U BS and U AP are the utilization of the candidate BSs and APs:

U BS [U BS 1 ,U BS 2
,......, U BS m
] (29)

U AP [U AP1 ,U AP 2 ,......, U AP n ] (30)

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The utilization is defined in terms of the downlink bandwidth usage of BS or AP. Additional user packet will be
dropped by the BS or AP that is congested with utilization reaching to 1. The network utilization vector can be
periodically exchanged and updated between VHDCs via MIHF of IEEE 802.21.

E. User Preference
In order to find an optimal network for a user, user preferences have to be considered. Let P be the user
preference vector which indicates preferences in terms of application characteristics.

P PBS  PAP (31)

where the sets PBS and PAP are the user preference of the candidate BSs and APs:

PBS [ PBS , PBS ,......, PBS ]

1 2 m
(32)

P AP [ P AP , P AP ,......, P AP ]
1 2 n
(33)

The preference vector P is created by the user, also it negotiated and updated via IEEE 802.21.

F. Handoff decision
The integration of all criteria leads to the index of the best BS or AP from the candidate set A (13) for user i,
and is determined in VHDC by:
§ S i  J min, i Px ·
Max ¨ u Pe ¸ (34)
¨ kU ¸
© Cue ¹

The objective of this handoff algorithm is to find the best BS or AP which can support the user required
bandwidth, lower cost and higher user preference with lower utilization. The exponential function e kU is used for
utilization adaptation, with the default setting of k 1 . Adjusting the value of k to a slightly higher value will
increase the base e k , resulting in higher exponential growth rate for larger utilization values, which can be
considered for network with higher load. When k 0 in e kU , the utilization adaptation is disabled, while SINR,
user required bandwidth, the user traffic cost, and the user preference become the QoS consideration for handoff.
The term Pe Px is used to represent the user preference or willing factor in the algorithm. The exponential
Px
e represents the weight of user preference by adjusting the value of the parameter x in the exponential e Px . The
higher the parameter x means the greater weight of the user preference factor which in turns will affect greater in
the choice of the best network (BS or AP) from the candidate set A. The user is responsible for adjusting the value
of x parameter to indicate and represent its desire. The user can disable any type of access networks in the
heterogeneous network by setting its preference P equal to zero.

V. SYSTEM LEVEL SIMULATION AND RESULTS

The performance of the proposed vertical handoff algorithm, the SINR based vertical handoff algorithm, and
the RSS based vertical handoff algorithm, using various thresholds setting for RSS such as -90dBm , -85dBm ,and
-80dBm , has been evaluated by using a new developed MATLAB-based simulator at the system level [15]. The
simulation scenario is shown in Fig. 2, in which there are 7 BS and 12 AP placed at each WCDMA HSDPA cell
boundary as in [5],[6]. 400 randomly generated MNs are used inside the simulation area [6]. The mobility model
for MNs is that, each MN changes its position every time interval depending on its moving speed and direction,
which are randomly chosen with mean direction and speed changing rate of 5 changes per 100 seconds. The
maximum user moving speed is 80km/hour [5]. In the traffic generator module, each session generation is subject
to the Poisson process with its mean session arrival rate for each user of lambda (sessions/second). On the other
hand, every initiated session has its own session holding time, and the initiated session is terminated after such a
time. The holding time of each session is subject to exponential distribution with a mean session holding time of ht
(seconds). In this simulation, the mean session holding time is of 60 seconds. In propagation condition model
module, a macro-cell propagation model for urban and suburban areas [16] is used, and for an antenna height of
15 meters, the path loss is:

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Pathloss ( dB ) 58 . 8  21 log 10 ( f )  37 . 6 log 10 ( R )  log( F ) (35)

where f is the carrier frequency (2GHz for WCDMA, 2.4GHz for WLAN), R is the distance in meters between
the user and the BS or AP, and log (F) is the log-normal distribution shadowing with standard deviation sigma
where V 10 dB . The maximum BS power is 40 dBm, with 50% allocated to HSDPA channel [13]. User end
background noise power equals to 7 . 66 u 10  14 W . For WLAN, DCF is used and only one station can transmit at
one time, maximum AP transmitting power is 20dBm, and the Background noise power equals to -96dBm. In this
simulation scenario, it is assumed that the cost of the BS and AP to be 0.8 and 0.4 [6]. The BS is given higher
cost, considering that the operational costs of WCDMA HSDPA systems are higher than WLANs.

2500
2000
1500
1000
500 MN
y(m)

0 BS
-500 AP
-1000
-1500
-2000
-2500
-2500 -1500 -500 500 1500 2500
x (m)

Fig. 2: Simulation scenario.

The overall system throughput, the sum of the data rates that are delivered to all MNs in the heterogeneous
network and measured in bits per second (bps), for different session arrival rates are shown in Fig. 3, which shows
that the proposed vertical handoff with predictive SINR using GM (1, 1) algorithm performs the best compared to
the combined SINR based [5] and RSS based vertical handoff algorithms, also the SINR algorithm [5] performs
better than RSS based vertical handoff techniques in providing higher system throughput, and the increment
become more noticeable at higher session arrival rate. Increase in the overall system throughput is noticeable even
when adaptive utilization is not used (k=0 in e kU ), because the cost vector C has certain effect. Also, it is clear
from Fig. 3, the higher values of k results in a greater weight of the exponential function ( e kU ) of the utilization
vector U in the denominator, which results in higher exponential growth for larger utilization values which leads
to selecting networks with lower utilization and this considered a great benefit for both the users and the operators.
Further increase in the value of k may or may not improve the system performance; it depends on the network
topology, the users' behavior, and other factors. So the optimal k should be calculated for each heterogonous
network topology independently to achieve the best performance of the system.

VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, a vertical handoff algorithm in heterogeneous wireless networks with predictive SINR using GM
(1, 1) is proposed for providing MNs the ability to roam seamlessly between networks. The proposed vertical
handoff algorithm uses SINR, user required bandwidth, user traffic cost, network utilization, and user preference
to make handoff decision QoS aware which cannot be achieved by the traditional RSS based vertical handoff
algorithms. GM (1, 1) is used to predict the next SINR value, if it is lower than a pre-specified threshold, handoff
request will be fired. The proposed vertical handoff algorithm is implemented in multiple VHDCs and the
decision inputs for these VHDCs are obtainable via MIHF of IEEE802.21 at layer 2.5.

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90
80

System Throughput (Mb/s)

70 RSS-80
RSS-85
60
RSS-90
50
SINR
40 k=0
30 k=1
20 k=2

10
0
0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05
Session Arrival Rate (sessions/second)

Fig. 3: System throughput vs. session arrival rate.

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