A handover decision procedure based on the minimization of Bayes criterion

Abstract

In mobile radio communications, inter-cell handover algorithms represent a critical issue for future pico and micro cellular systems. Two conflicting criteria must be optimized: the number of unnecessary handovers between two adjacent base-stations and the number of lost calls. A handover algorithm is proposed which utilizes a decision criterion such as signal strength. It allows for optimal trade-off between the number of unnecessary handovers and the number of lost calls. It is based on Bayes criterion which is commonly used in detection and estimation techniques. An optimal threshold q is derived using this criterion, which depends on the decision criterion and is dynamically adjusted by taking into account the observations. The decision of handover is made by comparing the distance d between the mobile station and the current base-station to this threshold q.