An intelligent handover strategy for a multi-segment broadband network

The proliferation of Internet based services has led to the convergence of various satellite and terrestrial wireless networks aiming to provide users with ubiquitous connectivity regardless of location or terminal type. For this reason, it is important that a suitable inter-system/segment handover is designed to ensure that the migration from one system to another is as smooth as possible. A handover algorithm based on fuzzy logic concepts is presented. The algorithm is separated into two distinct phases; one for handover initiation and the other for handover decision. The first phase is used to monitor the system to determine whether a handover is necessary, whereas the second phase is mainly focused on the selection of the most suitable segment. The algorithms are evaluated and the results show that by using this approach, different criteria can be considered simultaneously. This is desirable as it allows the system to include the users´ quality of service (QoS) requirements in the algorithm