A Fuzzy Logic Approach for Reducing Handover Latency in Wireless Networks

Abstract

Existing wireless networks aim to provide information communication services between mobile nodes. When a mobile node moves between different radio networks, a handover process is needed to change its point of attachment to the predicted radio network. Since traditional (based on one metric Received Signal Strength Indicator) predictions of handover decisions do not perform well, it is imperative that we develop an intelligent approach to facilitate the handover prediction process, thus yielding seamless handovers. In this article, a Fuzzy logic-based Hand-off Decision (FHD) approach is proposed for wireless networks. The parameters include a Received Signal Strength Indicator and the relative direction of a Mobile Node toward an access point, which are considered as inputs to the fuzzy logic system in order to facilitate the handover decision process and a switch to the best preferable access point. To achieve a fair comparison with a standard handover procedure, we have implemented a fuzzy logic-based hand-off decision approach in Omnet++. Our simulation results show that the proposed approach is able to reduce the handover latency. More precisely, the results show that by using the proposed method, the performance improved significantly the wireless access media delay (link-layer).