Analysis of Hysteresis Margin for Effective Handover in 4G Wireless Networks

The integration of various cellular networks; wireless Local Area Networks, Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE), mobile ad-hoc networks and personal area networks utilizing all IP-based architecture constitutes 4G wireless networks. The mobile users roam across the boundaries of different access networks which gives rise to the requirement of effective handover algorithms. The basic criteria, while designing handover algorithms, is link quality, measured in terms of signal strength. In case of received signal strength based handover algorithms, the threshold signal strength and hysteresis margin play an important role. This paper gives an analysis of hysteresis margin for effective handover in 4G wireless networks. The impact of handover margin on handover delay and number of handovers is also investigated. Simulation results are obtained to find appropriate handover margin for users moving with different velocity.