Energy efficient wireless link monitoring using probability inequality for vertical handover

This paper proposes a new way of measuring signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) at a low level of power consumption for vertical handover. In order to select the most suitable radio access networks (RAN) in vertical handover, the SINR of the alternative RAN should be measured at a certain interval while communicating with the existing RAN. In our proposal, the SINR measurement interval for the alternative RAN is controlled on the basis of SINR fluctuations in order to maintain high tracking ability and reduce power consumption during monitoring operations for vertical handover. In addition, a simple probability inequality is applied to detect SINR fluctuations with high precision and achieve low computational complexity. The effectiveness of the proposed monitoring method was verified through computer simulations and the results showed that the averaged SINR could be measured to an accuracy of about 1 dB while maintaining sleep mode at about 30%.