Nisha, Sunil Kumar and Jyoti Bhatnagar 22

Handoff Strategies in Cellular System

1
Nisha, 2Sunil Kumar 3Jyoti Bhatnagar,
1,2
Department of Electronics and Communication Engg. DCRUST Murthal, Sonepat (Haryana)
3
SB Institute of Engg. and Technology, Pundari, Kaithal (Haryana)
1
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Abstract: Mobility is the most important feature of a wireless the handoff and the receiver threshold [2]-[4], is called
cellular communication system. This continuous service is handoff area. Each handoff requires network resources to
achieved by Handoff (or Handover) from one cell to another reroute the call to the new base station. Switching load can
cell. Handoff (also called Handover) is the mechanism that be minimized by minimizing the expected number of
transfers an ongoing call from one cell to another cell as a user
handoffs. Another concern is delay; the Quality of Service
moves through the coverage area of a wireless cellular system.
The main objective of handover is to maintain the ongoing (QoS) may degrade below an acceptable level, if the handoff
calls. Many times it is initiated by crossing a cell boundary or does not occur quickly. Minimizing the delay also
by deterioration in quality of the signal in the current channel. minimizes the co-channel interference. During handoff,
Handovers are used to prevent an on going call to be there is brief service interruption. The perceived QoS is
disconnected. If handovers are not used then whenever a user reduced as the frequency of these interruptions increases.
leaves the area of a particular cell then its on going call is The chance of dropping a call due to factors such as the not
immediately disconnected. The handover process requires a availability of channels, increases with the number of
number of parameters e.g. which handover scheme we are handoff attempts. Handoff algorithms need to be enhanced,
using, how many channels are free for call. In the handover
as the rate of handoff increases, so that the perceived QoS
process the QoS should be kept up to the standard. Handoff
schemes which are poorly designed tend to generate very heavy does not degrade and the cost to cellular infrastructure does
signalling traffic and, therefore, there is a dramatic decrease in not increase.
the quality of service (Qos). The reason for the critical handoffs
in cellular communication systems is that in neighbouring cells
always a disjoint subset of frequency bands is used, so
negotiations must take place between the current serving base
station (BS), the mobile station (MS) and the next potential BS.

Keywords: BSC, BS, HANDOFF, MSC, MS.

I INTRODUCTION

The basic concept of a cellular phone system is that it has a Fig.1 Handoff: a mobile moving from one cell to another
large number base stations covering a small coverage area
known as cells, and as a result frequencies can be re-used. Handoff must be performed infrequently and successfully as
Mobility is provided by cell phone systems. So as a result, it possible and be imperceptible to the users. So to meet these
is the very basic requirement of the system that as the requirements, a particular signal level is set standard, as the
mobile handset moves from one cell to another cell, it must minimum usable for proper voice quality at the base station
be able to handover the call from the base station of the first receiver, as a threshold, a slightly stronger signal level is
cell, to that of the next cell with no interruption to the call. used at which handoff is made.
In satellite communications, it is the process of transferring
satellite control responsibility from one earth station to
another without loss or interruption of service. In cellular
telecommunications, handover or handoff refers to the
process of transferring an on going call or data session from
one channel connected to the core network to another.

A. HANDOFF PROCESS:

Handoff is a process of changing the channel (time slot,

spreading code, frequency or combination of them) which
are associated with the current connection while a call is in
progress [1]. The handoff process is initiated by issuing of
the handoff request. When the power received by the MS Fig.2: Handoff procedure
from BS of neighbouring cell exceeds the power received
from the BS of the current cell by a certain amount, this is So the margin = Pr handoff Pr minimum usable must be kept as
known as the handoff threshold and this is a fixed value. For optimum as possible, because too large value of it can
successful handoff, handoff request must be grabted by a burden the MSC by unnecessary handoffs or too small value
channel before the power received by the MS reaches the may be insufficient time to complete a handoff before call is
receivers threshold. The area where the ratio of received lost due to weak signal conditions.
power levels from the current and the target BSs is between

International Journal of New Trends in Electronics and Communication (IJNTEC) ..Vol.1, Issue. 2, Aug. 2013
Nisha, Sunil Kumar and Jyoti Bhatnagar 23

The handoff should take place at point A for the choice of dropped before the call is terminated as a result of a weak
Threshold 1 or Threshold 2. The handoff should take place signal at the coverage boundary. Then why bother to
at point B for Threshold 3 (see fig. 2). It has now been implement the handoff feature? Even cell handoff may not
shown in practice that using the hysteresis margin greatly be needed for a 16-km radius and if a call is dropped in a
reduces the number of unneeded handoffs. However, there is fringe area, the customer simply reconnects and redials the
a delay factor involved here. Optimum trade off values for call. Now a day the size of cells becomes smaller in order to
the parameters threshold and hysteresis to obtain a tolerable increase capacity. Also people talk longer, so the handoffs
delay may be set up. are very essential.

B. HANDOFF GENERATIONS Handover must be performed fast and successfully, but there
is a problem with faster handoff that we lose the benefits
i) Handoff in first generation:- which are associated with signal averaging and hysteresis.
This was helpful in removing unnecessary handoffs and
In first generation handoffs, the signal strength ping pong condition. However, in microcellular systems, the
measurements are made by base stations and are supervised time of handoff is critical and we may not tolerate the delay
by MSC. that comes with hysteresis windows. The handoff must be
fast. The movement of the mobile station from one cell to
ii) Handoff in second generation:- another cell must be detected to initiate a handoff. Now, a
reliable method to make this detection and to accommodate
In second generation, handoff decision was mobile assisted. the movement of mobile station is to measure the received
Every mobile station measures the received power from signal strengths from the user and to the base stations. In
surrounding base stations and continually reports the results order to avoid the excessive and inaccurate handoffs, an
of the measurement for base station. averaging of the received signal levels is performed as well
as hysteresis margin is also implemented. The total handoff
II REQUIREMENT, AIM and NECESSASITY of
delay is the sum of the hysteresis delay and signal averaging
HANDOFF:
delay and seeks to make this delay small. [5] Develops an
analytic approach to select the hysteresis delay and signal
A. Handover of a call may be required in following
averaging time in order to obtain an optimum trade off
situations:
between those two parameters as well as a trade off between
the total delay time and the number of allowable
a) When the received signal Strength is faded due to
unnecessary handoffs. Some important parameters are given
deep shadow (hole), then handover can be used to
mathematical expressions. The probability of an
stop the drop-out of the call, if the received signal
unnecessary handoff is given as:
strength of the neighbouring cell is good.
b) The call has to be permanently handed over, when
the mobile reaches a cell boundary. Pu=
( ).
.
( ). erf
c) In the systems which are based on channel +
rearrangement, when it is necessary to use a forced
handover of an existing call to accommodate a new
call or a handed over call.
Where f(x) is considered as:
B. Aim of a good handover strategy includes:
1
.
1. The number of drop-outs should be minimum, 2
2. The number of handovers should be minimum,
3. Quick switch over of the call without any Where L is the difference between the two received signal
disturbance to the call, levels due to the path loss difference from the two base
4. There should be minimum unnecessary handovers, stations that are involved in the handoff and h is the
5. The effect on new call blocking should be hysteresis level.
minimum.
The total delay time for macro cells is:
C. Why handoff is necessary:

In an analog system, once a call has been established, the hM = + rv.

set-up channel can not be used again during the period of
the call. Therefore, handoff is always implemented on the
Where, T is the signal averaging window, K is the path loss
voice channel. But in the digital systems, the value of
constant and Krv is the normalized distance from the mobile
implementing handoffs is dependent on the size of the cell
station to base station.
and the handoff is carried out through paging or common
control channel. For example, if the radius of the cell is 32
km (20 mi), the area is 3217 km^2(1256 mi^2). After a call The total delay time for microcells is:
is initiated in this area, there is a little chance that it will be

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Nisha, Sunil Kumar and Jyoti Bhatnagar 24

hu = + . In mobile-controlled handoff, each MS is completely in

.
control of the handoff process and the MH is responsible for
initiating a handover. This type of handoff has a short
where, dcor is the drop in signal level, experienced at a street reaction time (on the order of 0.1 second). MS measures the
corner and is determined experimentally. signal Strength from surrounding BSs and interference
levels on all channels. If the signal strength of the serving
This analysis shows that there exist compromises between BS is lower than that of another BS by a certain threshold,
the parameters of averaging time and hysteresis delay. It is then handoff can be initiated. It does this by evaluating the
also evident that for microcells we may wish to choose a signal strength and traffic load conditions and detecting the
larger hysteresis and short averaging time and the converse presence of neighbouring BSs. When a MH decides to
is clear for macro cells. The main thing here is that optimum initiate a handover, it sends an explicit message to a
parameter values may be selected for a tolerable delay in
mobility management node residing in the network.
conjunction with some tolerable probability of unnecessary
handoff.
IV TYPES OF HANDOFF:
III HANDOFF DECISIONS:
Handoffs are broadly classified [6], [7] into two categories-
There are numerous methods for performing handoff, hard and soft handoffs. They are also characterized by
at least as many as the types of state information that make before break and break before make. In the soft
have been defined for MSs, as well as the types of network handoff, during the handoff process, both existing and new
entities which maintain the state information. The decision- resources are used but in hard handoff, current resources are
making process of handoff may be centralized
released before new sources are used.
or decentralized (i.e., the handoff decision may be made at
the MS or network). From the decision process point of A. HARD HANDOFF-
view, there are three types of handoff decisions:
A hard handoff is essentially a break before make
1) Network controlled handoff (MCHO)
connection. In hard handoff, the link to the prior base station
2) Mobile assisted handoff (NCHO)
is terminated before or as the user is transferred to the new
3) Network controlled handoff (MAHO)
cells base station, this means that the mobile station is
linked to no more than one base station at a given time.
1) Network-Controlled Handoff: Under the control of the MSC, the BS hands off the MSs
In a network-controlled handoff protocol, handoff decisions call to another cell and then drop the call. Hard handovers
are based on the measurements of the MSs at a number of are intended to be instantaneous in order to minimize the
BSs and these decisions are made by the network. disruption to the call. Initiation of the handoff may begin
Information about the signal quality for all users is available when the signal strength at the mobile received from base
at a single point in the network that facilitates appropriate station 2 is greater than that of base station 1. The signal
resource allocation. In a network-controlled handover, strength measures are really signal levels averaged over a
connection rerouting is performed by the network and chosen amount of time. This averaging is necessary because
network collects statistics related to signal strength, traffic of the Rayleigh fading nature of the environment in which
load, and other information to decide when to initiate a the cellular network resides. A major problem with this
handover and which new BS is the target BS Network- approach to handoff decision is that the received signals of
controlled handoff is used in first-generation analog systems both base stations often fluctuate. When the mobile is
such as AMPS (advanced mobile phone system), TACS between the base stations, the effect is to cause the mobile to
wildly switch links with either base station. The base
(total access communication system), and NMT.
stations bounce the link with the mobile back and forth.
2) Mobile-Assisted Handoff : Hence the phenomenon is called ping- ponging. Besides
ping ponging this simple approach allows too many
In a mobile-assisted handoff process, the network makes handoffs [8]. It has been shown in early studies that much of
decisions and the MS makes measurements. In the circuit- the time the previous link was well adequate and that
switched GSM (global system mobile), the BS controller handoffs occurred unnecessarily.
(BSC) is in charge of the radio interface management. This
means allocation and release of radio channels and handoff A better method is to use the averaged signal levels relative
management. The handoff time between handoff decision to a threshold and hysteresis margin for handoff decision.
and execution in such a circuit-switched GSM is Furthermore, the condition should be imposed that the target
approximately 1 second. In a mobile-assisted handover, the base stations signal level should be greater than that of the
MH monitors the signal strength and the presence of current base station. Hard handoff is primarily used in
neighbouring BSs and conveys this information to the FDMA (frequency division multiple access) and TDMA
network controller. The network controller then uses this (time division multiple access), in which different frequency
information to make handover decisions. ranges are used in adjacent channels in order to minimize
channel interference. So it becomes impossible to
3) Mobile controlled handover: communicate with both BSs when the MS moves from one
BS to another BS (since different frequencies are used).

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Nisha, Sunil Kumar and Jyoti Bhatnagar 25

1) Types of Hard Handover: there are two types of In multilayer handover the microcells are superimposed
hard handover; with macrocell to decrease the number of handover and to
raise the system capacity. In multilayer handover according
i) Inter-cell Handover: to speed, users are consigned with each layer and to
decrease the number of handover microcell layer is allotted
The most basic form of handover is when a phone is to slow user where as macrocell allotted to fast user. For
redirected from its current cell (source) to a new cell, while GSM900 the microcell and macrocell have area range from
call in progress. In terrestrial networks, the source and the 500 meters to 35 Km. Handover calls are pour out to
target cells may be served from two different cell sites or macrocell when the microcell layer distributes all of it
from one and the same cell site. This type of handover, in channels to slow users then the handover call. It is feasible
which the source and the target are different cells (even if for microcell to allocate channels to new user, when the load
they are on the same cell site), is called inter-cell handover. in microcell decreases. This sort of handover is knows as
So the purpose of inter-cell handover is to maintain the call take-back. When microcell becomes congested then in this
as the subscriber is moving out of the area covered by the situation macrocell not only work for fast user but also work
source cell and entering the area of the target cell. for slow users.

ii) Intra-cell Handover: 2) Advantages of Hard Handover:

In this handover, the source and the target are one and the
cell is same and only the used channel is changed during the i) An advantage of the hard handover is that at any
handover. So in this handover, in which the cell is not moment in time one call uses only one channel.
changed, is called intra-cell handover and the purpose of The hard handover is usually not perceptible by the
intra-cell handover is to change one channel, which may be user and the event is indeed very short.
faded or interfered with a new clearer or less fading channel. ii) Another advantage of the hard handover is that it is
cheaper and simpler because the phone's hardware
iii) Microcellular Handover: does not need to be capable of receiving two or
more channels in parallel.
This handover technique is mostly used to meet high system
capacity by reuse of frequency and is mostly used in 3) Disadvantage of Hard Handover:
populated areas. Fig.3 shows that there are three Base
Stations in three streets. There is a line of sight (LOS) A disadvantage of hard handover is that if a handover fails
between BS1 and BS3 where as there is no line of sight the call may be temporarily disrupted or even terminated
(NLOS) between BS2 and BS1. Therefore we can say that abnormally.
there is LOS handover between BS1 and BS3 whereas
between BS2 and BS1 there is NLOS handover. 4) Applications of a Hard handover:

i) A Hard handoff can be employed with more

efficiency in FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple
Access) and TDMA (Time Division Multiple
Access) network access systems, because in these
systems, since different frequency ranges are used
from adjacent channels so channel interference can
be reduced.
ii) Broadband Internet access and e-mailing are more
efficient and reliable when a hard handoff
mechanism is used.
iii) A Hard handoff mechanism is particularly suitable
Fig.3
for delay-tolerant communication traffic such as in
Base stations deployed in streets
broadband technology-enabled Internet, mobile
When the Mobile Station misplace the LOS because of networking technology such as mobile WiMax.
turning the corner with his current Base Station in NLOS iv) Emailing and Broadband Internet access are more
then Received Signal Strength reduced. This RSS reducing efficient and reliable when a hard handoff
effect is called the corner effect and in this situation fast mechanism is used.
handover algorithms are requires to avoid from call
dropping because RSS drop quickly due to corner effect. B. SOFT HANDOFF:
The line of sight (LOS) attempts to decrease the
Soft handoff (or handover) is a mobile cellular network
unnecessary handover between the Base Stations whereas
technology commonly used in CDMA (Code-division
no line of sight (NLOS) must be as speedily as possible
multiple access) systems that enables the overlapping of the
because of corner effects.
repeater coverage zones, so that every mobile station is
iv) Multilayer Handover: always well within range of at least one of the base stations.
A Soft handoff mechanism works by first switching and
establishing connection with another base station before

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Nisha, Sunil Kumar and Jyoti Bhatnagar 26

disconnecting from the existing base station in the network, The application of Soft handoff mechanism is particularly in
so it is also sometimes referred to as Make-before- handling voice centric cellular networks particularly CDMA
Break Handoff. The soft handoff technology has many or GSM and latency sensitive communication services such
advantages like since there is no change in frequency or as Videoconferencing.
timing as a mobile set passes from one base station to
another base station, so there are practically no dead zones 4) Advantages of soft handover over hard
therefore the connections face negligible interruption and handover:
the dead zones are practically non existent. If compared to
hard handover, Soft handover offers more reliable access 1) In soft handoff, during handoff execution mobile does
continuity in network connection and less chances of a call not lose contact with the system.
termination during switching of base stations. This is due to 2) Ping ponging is eliminated and an extra measure of
it inherent attribute to handle simultaneous frequency performance is obtained through diversity combining to
channels which rarely suffer from fading or interference at mitigate fading.
the same time and together. In soft handoff technology, the 3) More control may be given to the mobile in handoff
connections are relatively permanent and the decisions.
communication is more stable in comparison to the other
cellular technologies because in CDMA technology, all the C. HORIZONTAL HANDOFF:
repeaters use the same frequency channel for each mobile
set, irrespective of the location. In comparison to hard In Horizontal handover the users use the same network
handoff, technical implementation of a Soft handoff is more access technology and mobility perform on the same layers.
expensive and complex. In this handover the on-going calls are to be maintain and
although the change of IP address because of the mobile nod
Now the soft handoff procedure is as follows: Suppose that movement. This handover may be categorized according to
the mobile station is linked and communicating with base the direction of handover invocation.
station 1. Every base station is sending a pilot signal, which
among other things, gives a measure of the signal strength to D. VERTICAL HANDOFF:
mobile users. When the signal strength of base station 2
exceeds the add threshold, base station 1 is notified to place Vertical handovers ensure universal roaming between
base station 2 onto the candidate list. Further, when the different wireless networks operated by different network
signal strength of base station 2 becomes greater than that of service providers. In vertical handover the mobility perform
base station 1 by some specified level, Base station 2 is between the different layers and the users can move between
placed on the active list and it also is allowed control of the different network technologies. In vertical handover the
call. Here, diversity combining is implemented. Now upon mobile node moves across the different heterogeneous
the signal level of base station 1 going below the drop networks and not only changes the IP address but the QoS
threshold, the drop timer is activated. If it happens now that characteristics and also changes the network interface [9].
the signal level of base station 1 goes back above the drop
Vertical handover process: The process of vertical handoff
level, the drop timer will be reset. However, if the signal
can be divided into three main steps [10], [11], namely
strength level goes below the drop threshold and the drop
handoff initiation, handoff decision, and handoff execution.
timer expires; base station1 is dropped from activity with
the call. i) Handoff Initiation Phase:
1) Advantages of Soft Handover: In this phase, in order to start the handoff event,
information to be collected about the network from
i) In soft handovers the connection to the source cell
is broken only when a reliable connection to the different layers likes Link Layer, Application Layer and
target cell has been established and therefore there Transport Layer. These layers provide the information such
are lower chances that the call will be terminated as RSS, power, link speed, cost, bandwidth, jitter, user
abnormally due to failed handovers. preferences and network subscription, throughput etc. Based
ii) Other advantage is that simultaneously channels in on this information handoff will be initiated in an
multiple cells are maintained and the call could appropriate time.
only fail if all of the channels are interfered or fade
at the same time. ii) Handoff Decision Phase:

2) Disadvantage of Soft Handover: In this step, mobile device decides whether the connection
to be continued with current network or to be switched over
The main disadvantage of soft handovers is that it uses to another one and the decision may depend on various
several channels in the network to support just a single call. parameters which have been collected during handoff
So the number of remaining free channels is reduced and initiation phase.
thus the capacity of the network also reduces.
iii) Handoff Execution Phase:
3) Applications of Soft Handover:

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Nisha, Sunil Kumar and Jyoti Bhatnagar 27

In this phase, existing connections need to be re-routed to node or COS, buffering and cell sequencing but provides
the new network in a seamless manner. In this phase, better resource utilization and reduced signalling.
Authentication and authorization and the transfer of users
context information are also included. 4. Multicast Connection Rerouting:

Table 1: Difference between Vertical and Horizontal Handover [12] This method is the combination of above three techniques
and it pre-allocates resources in the network portion
HORIZONTAL VERTICAL surrounding the macro-cell where the mobile user is located.
HANDOFF HANDOFF Whenever a new mobile connection is established, a virtual
Network Single connection More than one connection tree (VCT) [18] is created, which connect all
connection connection Base Stations (BSs) including the macro-cells towards
IP address changed changed which the MT might move in the future. So, the mobile user
can freely roam in the area covered by the tree without
QoS Not changed May be changed
invoking the network call acceptance capabilities during
characteristics
handover. The allocation of the VCT may be static or
Network Not changed May be changed
dynamic. This approach is fast and can guarantee the
interface
negotiated QoS in case of network handover. It may not be
Access Not changed changed efficient in terms of network bandwidth utilization, because
technology there exists the possible denial of a connection due to lack
of resources and high signalling overheads, especially in the
case of dynamic tree allocation.
V HANDOVER PROTOCOLS:
VI HANDOFF MANAGEMENT ISSUES:
In the design of a handover protocol [13], there are several
factors that are to be considered. These factors are related to Handoff management has proposed several challenges in the
handover performance issues and constraints imposed by the implementation of wireless technologies. The open issues
operating environment. The handoff protocols can be are listed below:
classified into four categories [14]:
1) QoS (Quality of service):
1. Full Connection Re-routing:
The main issue to be considered is guaranteeing of
A new VC is established here as if it is a new call. Handoff negotiated QoS. The critical factors that influence the QoS
scheme proposed in [15] makes use of external processors disruption during handoff are - handover blocking due to
called Inter-Working Devices (IWDs) to manage handoff. limited resources, out-of-order cell delivery, cell losses,
These techniques are latent due to the need of computation delay and delay variations. The minimization of QoS
of new routes but also optimal. disruption can cost buffering. Provisioning of the Qos also
needed to address the timing and synchronization issues.
2. Route Augmentation:
Discusses local and global adaptive synchronization criteria
This protocol offers a simplest means of achieving handoff, based on Lyapunov stability theory for the uncertain
since it requires little buffering, no cell sequencing and not complex delayed dynamical networks [19].
much additional routing. It involves route extension by
adding a route from last position to current position of MT.
It does not provide optimal path. 2) Rerouting Connections:
3. Partial Connection Re-routing (Incremental Re- The issues remain in development of algorithms for finding
establishment): new route options, creation of signalling protocols for the
determination of the feasibility of proposed solutions, and
In this technique, a part of route is preserved for simplicity,
for reconfiguring the connection path.
while the rest is re-routed for optimality. In this, the Nearest
Common Node Rerouting (NCNR) algorithm presented in 3) Point to Multipoint:
[16], routes the connection according to the residing zone of
MT. This NCNR attempts to perform the rerouting for a This includes the development of protocols that address
handoff at the closest ATM network node which is common rerouting the point-to-multipoint connections of MTs.
to both zones involved in the handoff transaction. The
Hybrid Connection algorithm presented in [17] consists of 4) Mobile-to-Mobile Handoff:
Cross-Over Switch (COS) discovery and in case of intra-
cluster handoff; the cluster switch itself performs the For a mobile to mobile connection, there is a need to address
handoff at COS. In this type of handoff, the COS discovery up gradation of existing protocols in order to support
process is initiated based on the handoff hint message connection routing and QoS (Quality of Service).
provided by the MT. A partial path is set up between the
COS and target switch, while the rest of the old path is 5) Optimization:
preserved. This technique requires computation of nearest

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Nisha, Sunil Kumar and Jyoti Bhatnagar 28

This includes the development of efficient methods that Engineering Research, Volume 3, Issue 1, January-
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heterogeneous wireless networks Meriem Kassar *,
VII CONCLUSION: Brigitte Kervella, Guy Pujolle, Science Direct, January
(2008).
[12] SMIRT with Call Admission Control (CAC) Based
In wireless networks, handoff between cells is unavoidable
Vertical Handover Decision for Seamless Mobility in
because it is very necessary to maintain the ongoing calls. Multi-Access 4G Heterogeneous Wireless Overlay
There are occurrences where a handoff is unsuccessful and Networks, -P.Vetrivelan and P.Narayaasamy, IMECS
lots of research was conducted regarding this. The main (2012), Hong Kong.
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