Abstract—Seamless vertical handoff between different access networks in the next generation wireless networks remains a challenging problem. A recent vertical handoff scheme that is based on Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR) may not be the best scheme for selecting the service access point or base station. Although this SINRbased scheme has higher system throughput and lower disconnection probability as compared with other vertical handoff schemes, we presume that the distance is a good criterion for decreasing service disconnection probability and increasing system throughput. The Distance-based Scheme for Vertical Handoff (DSVH) that we propose in this paper for heterogeneous wireless networks is a reactive vertical handoff scheme. We suggest that vertical handoff be based on the Received Signal Strength (RSS) and the distances to access points or base stations, where the main goal of this scheme is to enhance system performance in terms of reducing service disconnection probability and increasing system throughput. The simulation experiments show that our proposed scheme, DSVH, significantly outperforms the SINR-based scheme. It reduces the number of dropped users by 20%. However, the throughput improvrmrnt is insignificant; it is about 1%.

Index Terms—vertical handoff, SINR, RSS, heterogeneous wireless networks  

Cite: Wail Mardini, Musab Q. Al-Ghadi, and Ismail M. Ababneh, "Distance-Based Scheme for Vertical Handoff in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks," Journal of Emerging Technologies in Web Intelligence, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 67-76, February 2012. doi:10.4304/jetwi.4.1.67-76