A novel handover algorithm design in WiMAX networks

In this paper, we propose a handover algorithm for WiMAX networks. The algorithm relies on the computation of the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at a Mobile Station (MS) from neighboring Base Stations (BSs) combined with the capacity estimation of the targeting cell. The proposed handover algorithm is implemented by a joint decision between the MS and BS nodes. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated in terms of call dropping ratio and system throughput. A comparison with the conventional hard handover algorithm is presented.